The stock market has continued to experience a double dose of volatility this week, with the S&P 500 shedding around 2.5% after fears that President Trump could be looking to axe Fed chairman Jerome Powell. Just a day later, Trump put such fears to rest by stating he has no such plans. With a handful of quarterly earnings results coming in just a bit better than feared, it certainly seems like a bit of a relief rally could be in the cards.
While I wouldn’t buy into such strength, given that U.S. markets could easily backtrack in a day based on a comment or even just a hunch, I would at least consider forming a list of names to buy should another pullback be in the cards. Indeed, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the oversold American tech names that’s starting to look interesting at around $200 per share, especially with the U.S. Treasury Secretary saying things like the trade war with China is not “sustainable” and that a de-escalation could be underway “very soon.”
However, Mr. Bessent did say that negotiations with China could be “a slog.” Either way, such comments are only encouraging and may give a wave of investors a bit of hope as they look to catch several names on the way down. In any case, here are three reasons I’d consider buying more Apple shares before April comes to a close.
It’s course correcting with its AI plans
Indeed, Apple has been the target of some negative headlines regarding artificial intelligence (AI). Whether we’re talking about trailing in the technology, recent delays in much-anticipated AI features, or the sudden change in AI leadership over at Apple (with Mike Rockwell taking the spot of John Giannandrea), it’s clear that there’s not much of an AI multiple baked into the stock. Either way, I believe Apple is getting things back on the right track.
With a new Siri Chief and a trajectory that could allow Apple to make up for lost time in the AI race, I wouldn’t dare bet against a firm that may very well have the longer-term edge in AI, given its “personalization” factor, not to mention its impressive hardware that could power many of the profound game-changing Apple Intelligence features of the near future.
With a handful of big AI features coming later this year and expectations that have been lowered quite a bit, perhaps it’s best to give Apple the benefit of the doubt as it looks to get AI right.
Concerns about the China-U.S. tariff war may be overblown
Indeed, things escalated rather quickly, with the U.S. imposing tariffs in the triple-digit percentages (145% or so) in short order. The bilateral trade spat has essentially turned into an embargo of sorts.
Despite the rapid escalation, exemptions could allow Apple and various other tech firms to steer clear of most of the damages from the earliest wave of tariffs. Further, if Bessent is right and the situation can be de-escalated sooner rather than later, I think the China-exposed names, like Apple, could be in for a considerable relief bounce.
Either way, I wouldn’t ditch Apple stock, even as most other Wall Street analysts decrease their ratings or price targets. Is there a lot of risk as Apple gets caught amid a nasty trade war? Most definitely. Warren Buffett’s prior selling also doesn’t make for a very comforting buy on the recent dip. Despite all this, I continue to believe Apple will make it through this turbulent period.
