Patient Apple bulls are vindicated, and the stock is just getting started
Apple stock is getting its groove back as naysayers are proved wrong about the iPhone upgrade cycle. That means opportunity. Shares surged to an all-time intraday high Monday following a slew of positive commentary from Wall Street analysts and upbeat demand data for the newest iPhones. Apple was on pace to take out its Dec. 26, 2024 record-high close of $259. “People thought the tariffs were going to drive” iPhone prices higher, Jim Cramer during Monday’s Morning Meeting . “People [also] thought there was going to be not enough buying because of Siri. All nonsense.” “The misperception and misconception are overdone, and that’s why it’s a buy,” Jim added. New numbers from Counterpoint indicated the new iPhone 17 lineup has outsold the iPhone 16 models by 14% in the U.S. and China within its first 10 days of availability. Bloomberg first reported the data. “The base model iPhone 17 is very compelling to consumers, offering great value for money,” Counterpoint said. “A better chip, improved display, higher base storage, selfie camera upgrade – all for the same price as last year’s iPhone 16,” Counterpoint analysts added. “Buying this device is a no brainer, especially when you throw channel discounts and coupons into the mix.” For weeks now, Jim has been citing how the new iPhones are a bargain when considering the trade-in value of previous models and the carrier discounts. Counterpoint also said the brand new iPhone Air model has been doing “slightly better than the iPhone 16 Plus.” Preorders for the device in China began on Oct. 17. It sold out almost immediately. The analysts said, “This is a big milestone for Apple and more broadly for eSIM.” The iPhone Air is eSIM only, meaning it does not have the option for a physical SIM card. AAPL YTD mountain Apple (AAPL) year-to-date performance Wall Street analysts also enthusiastically chimed in. Loop Capital upgraded Apple to a buy from a hold. The analysts also hiked their price target to $315 per share from $226 — implying more than 19% upside from session highs of around $264. “While the Street is baking in some degree of outperformance from AAPL’s iPhone 17 family of products, we believe there remains material upside to Street expectations through CY2027,” according to Loop analysts. In this case, “through CY2027” means through calendar year 2027. That distinction is made because Apple’s fiscal year is such that when earnings are out after the bell on Oct. 30, they will be for the company’s fiscal 2025 fourth quarter. Over at Melius Research, analyst Ben Reitzes said Apple is “on a mission to silence its critics,” and that a beat and raise quarter “could be on the horizon.” “Near-term, sales into China are picking up and margins could deliver upside with iPhone 17 Pro Max momentum and lower hits from tariffs. We see shares getting a lift into CY26 and into a Siri/product event in the March 2026 timeframe,” said Reitzes, who has a buy rating and a $290 price target on the stock. “Apple’s Siri update has been delayed,” he said. “But it’s about to get better with significant AI enhancements.” None of this came to a surprise to Jim, who has been touting the benefits of Apple’s new iPhone models long before their September launch. “We’ve been saying the iPhone 17 is unbelievable,” he said on ” Squawk on the Street ” on Monday “Now, everybody’s catching up.” With Monday’s roughly 4.5% surge, shares of Apple were up almost 5.3% year to date. The stock for the first half of 2025 was a total dog on concerns around AI, various regulatory overhangs, and possible higher device costs from President Donald Trump ‘s tariffs. Since August, however, shares have been trending upwards following CEO Tim Cook’s additional $100 billion investment into U.S. manufacturing in order to appease the Trump administration’s call to bring Apple’s supply chain back home. “From the beginning, people underestimated it because they felt that Apple had lost its mojo,” Jim said. Monday’s spate of positive news just reiterates why shares have more room to run and why Jim always says own Apple stock, don’t trade it. To be sure, Apple shares were still underperforming most of its fellow “Magnificent seven” stocks, with the exception of Amazon , which has declined 2% year to date. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL, AMZN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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