As Apple (AAPL) stock takes a tumble to kick off 2025, analysts at Wedbush don’t see cause for concern.
“We believe the panic and bear frenzy around Apple is way overdone” heading into next week’s December earnings report, analysts led by Dan Ives said in a research note Wednesday.
So far this year, shares of the Cupertino, California-based company are down more than 8% as expectations around sales for the 2025 fiscal year fall short. Last week, Jefferies analysts downgraded Apple’s rating, citing expectations of a miss for both fiscal first quarter results and guidance.
Shares of Apple were up 0.25% Wednesday morning, after closing at $223.83 Tuesday.
Apple’s iPhone 17 and 18 sales are expected to “be weak,” Jefferies said, “because there are limited hardware upgrades to drive adoption.” Following Asia supply chain checks, Jefferies also said it is “cautious” over demand for Apple’s rumored iPhone SE 4, which it said is likely to launch toward the end of March.
This slide in stock price caused chipmaker Nvidia to overtake Apple as the most valuable company in the world on Tuesday.
But analysts at Wedbush said that overall unit declines in China are “manageable,” and that investors will get a better understanding of Apple’s China turnaround once it announces its regional AI partner, which will likely be Baidu (BIDU). Tencent (TCEHY) and ByteDance are also in the running, Ives said.
As a result, the securities firm maintained its “Outperform” rating and $325 price target
“With Apple Intelligence being rolled out in a phased strategy the iPhone 16 upgrade cycle is the start of a massive growth renaissance at Apple and that bull thesis remains intact as we see ~20% of the world’s population ultimately accessing AI through an Apple device over the coming years,” Ives wrote.
Although Jefferies and others have raised concerns about Apple’s AI strategy, which came late in the game compared with competitors and is being rolled out in phases through the tech giant’s latest models, Ives believes 2025 will be a “fork in the road year” for Apple.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will Apple’s AI strategy,” Ives said. “but the seeds of that strategy with Apple Intelligence are now forming and will transform the Apple consumer growth narrative over the coming years.”
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