JPM lowers Apple price target due to reflect tariff purchases and unexciting iPhone 17
Analysts at JPMorgan have lowered their price target for Apple to $230 from $245, about 14% above where the iPhone maker closed yesterday, to account for pull-forward purchases that happened out of fear of tariffs and underwhelming upgrades on its upcoming phone, iPhone 17 — both of which could moderate demand going forward.
Analysts led by Samik Chatterjee wrote:
“Our more bearish view in relation to the volume outlook for iPhone 17 series is in conjunction with our unchanged expectations for a stronger cycle in iPhone 18 series with the launch of a foldable smartphone as well as further progress in relation to AI features that have been long awaited and delayed relative to initial investor expectations.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook on the company’s last earnings call denied that tariffs had led to a surge in demand — at least not for the quarter ending in March, which was before President Trump’s Rose Garden tariff announcements — but that certainly may have happened since.
Wall Street’s average price target for the shares is in the same ballpark as Chatterjee’s, at roughly $227, per analysts polled by Bloomberg.