Wedbush slashes Apple price target, says “tariff economic Armageddon” hurts it more than any tech company
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives cut his price target on Apple by 23%, saying that no US tech company is going to be hit as hard as the iPhone giant by reciprocal tariffs slated to go into effect on Wednesday.
From a note to clients on Sunday:
“The tariff economic Armageddon unleashed by Trump is a complete disaster for Apple given its massive China production exposure. In our view, no US tech company is more negatively impacted by these tariffs than Apple with 90% of iPhones produced and assembled in China. We have seen Apple navigate very uncertain times in the supply chain during Covid... but for the stock it was feasible for investors (and us) at the time to look past March or June 2020 quarters and understand and value what normalized 2021 earnings could look like as normalization would happen. This tariff situation is dramatically different and a very scary prospect as the current tariff slate with China at 54% and Taiwan at 32% would be devastating to Apple, its cost structure, and ultimately consumer demand... it’s not a debate in our view.”
Apple has tumbled nearly 16% from President Trump’s Rose Garden announcement to Friday’s close and nearly 4% premarket, as it has massive operations in Southeast Asia, where reciprocal tariff rates are ultrahigh. Analysts at Morgan Stanley see just a 20% chance that Apple receives an exemption from these levies.
Ives also lowered his earnings and revenue forecasts on Apple for this calendar year as well as 2026.
However, even after that price target cut — and the alarm bells clearly blaring, in Ives’ eyes — the analyst still has an “outperform” rating on the stock, and sees it rallying 32% from Friday’s close.
“We stay bullish for the long-term view on Apple as the Services business and strong FCF support a base case valuation of $250... Our bear case is $160 and bull case (tariffs removed or exempt) is back to $325,” he wrote.
