Apple Soars After Tariff Exemptions—And iPhones May Not Get More Expensive After All

 

A customer walks through an Apple Store in Hong Kong last week.

Key Facts

Apple was among the many stocks hurt during the stock market plunge as President Donald Trump pursued his most aggressive tariff policies—shares of the California-based firm dove 23% from April 2’s “Liberation Day” through Tuesday as it relies heavily on China in its global supply chain.

But the White House’s late Friday update it would exempt smartphones and other high-tech products from its highest tariff rates helped drive Apple’s comeback.

The reduction from a 145% tariff on Apple components from China to a 20% tariff lowers the company’s projected tariff profit hit from 29% to 5%, UBS analyst David Vogt wrote in a Sunday note to clients.

Apple stock rose almost 5% to $208 by 9:45 a.m. EDT Monday, tacking on $140 billion in market capitalization and spearheading a broader tech stock bounceback, as the Nasdaq index climbed more than 1%.

Shares of Apple are up 20% from their $172 close last Tuesday, its lowest level since May, now trading within $15 of its share price ahead of the April 2 “reciprocal tariff” announcement which drained stock prices globally.

Big Number

$520 billion. That’s about how much market value Apple has recovered since Tuesday. That’s a six-day move greater than the total valuation of Mastercard, the world’s 18th-most valuable company.

Iphone Prices Won’t Go Up, Analyst Says

Following the White House smartphone tariff relief, the UBS analysts wrote they don’t “expect Apple to increase prices on iPhones in the near-term,” a major relief from consumers after Rosenblatt analysts projected the Apple smartphone prices would soar by 43% under Trump’s original reciprocal tariff plans.

Contra

But “if tariffs are reinstated at prior levels, we would expect a price increase,” Vogt cautioned. That’s a nod to the lingering uncertainty, exacerbated by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's assertion Sunday the tech tariff exemptions are temporary. About 80% to 90% of iPhones are assembled in China, according to Bank of America. It’s “unlikely” Apple shares will return to its all-time high of more than $250 soon given the uncertainty and “frequency of changes we have seen over the last two weeks,” JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote Monday.