Apple (AAPL) stocks are increasingly affected by tough market and economic impacts in 2025. iPhone developers struggle to find all the momentum throughout the year and work with many of their epic seven peers. The AAPL fell below the April $200 level after imposing tariffs on 185 countries after Trump’s release date. Additionally, it took nearly 60 days for the stock to return to this price range. However, one expert believes there could be another dip coming for iPhone developers.
In fact, Apple’s stock has been downgraded to be held from buys by Needham analysts who said their stock was overvalued amid the growth of the AI competition. Needham analyst Laura Martin explained in a note to client Wednesday that Apple is currently trading at a more expensive multiple historically. Furthermore, the rise of generative AI could be harmful if it threatens to disrupt iPhone makers’ businesses and continues to lack Apple’s use of AI as a revenue booster.
“We believe that for this inventory to work, we need a catalyst for the iPhone replacement cycle. We won’t foresee this in the next 12 months,” writes Martin. “Until then, I believe $170 to $180/spot is at a better entry level,” she also said Apple could accelerate growth by deciding to “actively pursue advertising revenue streams.”
Furthermore, analysts pointed out that Apple (AAPL) also does not enjoy the benefits of AI cloud revenues like its competitors. “While friends like Microsoft (MSFT), Google (Goog), and Meta (Meta) have launched the basic models and Genai-Native platform, AAPL still doesn’t have a competitive LLM (large language model) or developer ecosystem on Genai capabilities.”
For a long time, Apple has been an unparalleled leader in market capitalization rankings. iPhone developers not only became the first to reach the $2 trillion market value, but also became the first to reach the $3 trillion mark. However, that advantage has declined over the past few months. Currently, Apple is currently performing the worst of its “magnificent 7” major high-tech peers, down about 18% per year. The company faces delayed sales in China and slower smartphone market. Other investment companies have also downgraded stock forecasts for iPhone developers, including Jefferies and Loop Capital. In press time, the AAPL is $202, falling below the 200-day simple moving average midway through the 52-week range.
