Apple Slapped With Downgrade On 'No Significant AI Innovation' - Stock Eyes Recovery After 4-Day Slide

Apple's stock rose about 0.5% in early premarket trading on Thursday, following a four-day decline exacerbated by yet another hardware launch event that failed to spark investor excitement.

According to a summary on The Fly, Phillip Securities downgraded Apple to 'Reduce' from 'Neutral' with an unchanged price target of $200 following this week's product event, citing valuation concerns for the downgrade following the recent share price rally.

Phillip said it maintains a cautious outlook on Apple, citing near-term headwinds from tariffs, elevated spending, and "no significant AI innovation" to help with weakness in products and the Chinese market.

Most analysts, however, raised their respective price targets for the Apple stock following the“Awe Dropping” hardware launch event held on Tuesday. BofA, Rosenblatt, Melius Research, and Evercore ISI were among the firms that raised their price targets on Apple's stock, with the updated estimates from these firms ranging from $241 to $290, the Fly reported. 

JPMorgan and Citi said the launch event was aligned with their expectations, while Morgan Stanley said the event was slightly more“awe-dropping” than expectations.

The investor pessimism regarding the stock is largely due to the company's delayed embrace of artificial intelligence (AI). The company has yet to roll out meaningful AI features, and it has long delayed its improved Siri, which is widely expected to receive a significant boost from incorporating AI technology.

President Donald Trump's tariffs, especially the hefty ones reserved for China, the company's primary supply chain, have thrown a wrench into its attempt to reinvigorate sales of its flagship iPhone. 

That said, bullish analysts such as Wedbush's Daniel Ives and Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster see the new iPhone 17 Air to give a lift to sales volume. Munster sees the company recording its best iPhone sales growth since 2022 in the fiscal year 2026.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the stock, however, remained 'extremely bullish' (79/100), and the message volume was 'extremely high' heading into Thursday's market open.

Apple stock is down about 9.1% year-to-date (YTD).

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