Apple Stock Looked Like It Was Rolling. Now It’s on the Back Foot Again
- Finance
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- 4 minutes read
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Key Takeaways
- Apple stock erased its year-to-date gains this week after the Trump administration upped its pressure on the iPhone maker and reports suggested long-awaited AI features were being delayed again.
- Apple shares gained momentum in January after the company announced an AI partnership with Alphabet and reported record holiday-quarter revenue.
Apple (AAPL) stock is in the red again.
The tech giant’s shares slumped 5% yesterday after the Federal Trade Commission said it had sent a warning letter to the company over its Apple News service, adding to pressure felt after reports Wednesday that the company was once again delaying the release of some AI-powered Siri features. That added to persistent concerns the iPhone maker’s AI capabilities lag its peers.
The shares slipped again early Friday, recently falling nearly 1%. Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.
Why This Is Important
Tech stocks have been the driving force behind a stock market rally that began with the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. Because of tech’s weight in stock indexes, recent headwinds for the sector, including concerns about AI spending and stretched valuations, have been a drag on the broader market.
Apple and its Magnificent Seven peers are having a rough 2026, with the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) in the red and underperforming the S&P 500 so far this year.
Shares of hyperscalers Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) have been weighed down by concerns that they are overspending on AI infrastructure. Their massive data center spending has historically been a boon to chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), but even that stock is treading water amid anxiety about tech sector valuations.
Before this week’s setbacks, Apple stock appeared to have turned a corner. Apple announced in mid-January that it had selected Alphabet’s (GOOG) Gemini to power its future AI features, including the updated Siri features that are reportedly delayed. Weeks later, Apple reported record results for the all-important holiday quarter, when iPhone and services revenue easily beat estimates.
Apple shares rose nearly 8% in the week following that earnings report, lifting the stock into the green for the year. Thursday’s slump erased most of those post-earnings gains.
