Apple (AAPL) stocks have dropped roughly 18% since the December record ending, with over $700 billion from the iPhone maker’s market capitalization as investors scrutinise the company’s AI play and assess macroeconomic headwinds.
Nearby: March 18th at 4:01pm EDT
Apple’s shares closed on December 26th at an all-time high of $259. Just two weeks after TechGiant added ChatGpt to IPHONE as part of its second rollout of Apple Intelligence AI capabilities, the company’s market capitalization surged to a record $3.9 trillion.
Last week alone, Apple’s stock fell 11%, marking its biggest weekly loss since November 2022. As of noon Tuesday, the iPhone maker’s market capitalization was around $3.2 trillion.
Apple’s stocks have been struggling in the first few months of 2025, as the AI boom was driven by investors’ fears that it could be disappointing. Apple also faces its own specific set-off.
For one thing, Apple’s AI strategy shows a troubling crack. On March 7, Apple delayed the release of its AI-upgraded Siri, saying the new Siri takes longer than expected and should be announced later this year. The move has led Morgan Stanley analysts to cut their stock price target from $275 to $252, cutting iPhone sales forecasts. Analysts led by Eric Woodling hope that Apple will ship 228 million iPhones in 2025. This is down from previous estimates of 230 million and 255 million, respectively.
Woodring wrote in a March 12 analysis that, according to a consumer survey by Morgan Stanley, “The “Upgraded Siri Personal Assistant” is interested in future iPhone upgrades of #1 AI features at the time of upgrade.”
“Previous iPhone forecasts suggest that the launch of iOS 18.4 in April 2025 will integrate more advanced Siri and integrate upgrade rates this fall, along with the broader Apple Intelligence Languages Support and Accelerate Upgrade Rate, so we need to lower the upgrade rate assumption (iPhone).
“No other factors are that FY26 cannot support the growth of iPhones…but without the “killer AI app” in the market ahead of the launch of the iPhone 17, AI features will not contribute to the acceleration of upgrade rates as meaningfully as before,” he added.
In addition to Apple’s heat, Trump’s tariffs on China are threatening to add $2 billion to the costs of goods and services over the next 12 months, according to an analysis by Morgan Stanley last week.
Read more: What Trump’s tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet
