Apple’s stock has experienced a significant decline, dropping approximately 18% from its peak in December, resulting in a loss of over $700 billion in market capitalization. The decline comes as investors closely examine the company’s artificial intelligence strategy and consider macroeconomic challenges. For more details, visit the original report on Yahoo Finance.
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Apple’s shares reached an all-time high of $259 on December 26, shortly after the introduction of ChatGPT to its iPhones, which was part of the company’s second rollout of Apple Intelligence AI features. This propelled Apple’s market cap to a record $3.9 trillion. However, the stock saw an 11% decline last week, marking the most significant weekly drop since November 2022, with the market cap now standing at approximately $3.2 trillion.
In early 2025, Apple’s shares have struggled amid a broader downturn in Big Tech stocks, fueled by investor concerns over the potential underperformance of the AI sector. Apple has faced its own challenges, including delays in its AI strategy. On March 7, Apple postponed the release of an AI-upgraded Siri, citing that the new version requires more development time. This led Morgan Stanley analysts to adjust their price target for Apple shares from $275 to $252 and revise their iPhone sales forecasts downward. They now anticipate Apple will ship 228 million iPhones in 2025 and 237.5 million in 2026, down from previous estimates.
Further complicating matters, the continuation of tariffs on China by the Trump administration could increase Apple’s costs by $2 billion over the next year. Additionally, the Department of Justice’s stance on blocking Google from paying Apple to set its search engine as the default on devices threatens a significant portion of Apple’s revenue, estimated at $18 billion to $20 billion annually. This could also impact Apple’s ongoing antitrust battle with the DOJ.
