Apple (AAPL) shares gained as much as 5% on Monday as Wall Street viewed the iPhone maker a major winner of exemptions on tariffs announced by the Trump administration over the weekend.
“The Trump administration gives AAPL a lifeline,” said Angelo Zino, vice president and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. “It also provides a huge sigh of relief for US consumers who feared a significant increase in costs.”
In a big win for the technology sector, the White House carved out reciprocal tariff exemptions on smartphones, computers, memory chips, tablets/smartwatches, chip equipment, and other electronics.
“AAPL is clearly the biggest winner across the Technology space, avoiding a worst case scenario,” said Zino.
Apple shares are still down 15% year to date. The stock has been volatile since President Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement on April 2. Shares subsequently climbed higher after Trump announced a 90-day pause on many countries, but increased levies on China.
Analysts had warned of significantly higher-priced iPhones if tariffs on China remained in place. Despite the exemption, Wall Street warns that Apple must continue to plan on diversifying its manufacturing out of China.
“We think AAPL will look to potentially double its India iPhone capacity over the next two to three years to help mitigate future China/U.S. tensions,” Zino.
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