Apple Inc. has recently faced growing scrutiny from President Donald Trump, adding to a series of challenges that have weighed on the tech giant’s stock performance, Bloomberg reports.
Once the world’s most valuable company, Apple has fallen behind Microsoft and Nvidia in market capitalization as political pressure, concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, and global manufacturing issues combine to create investor uncertainty.
In recent remarks, Trump claimed he had a “little problem with Tim Cook,” Apple’s CEO, citing concerns over the company’s ongoing efforts to expand manufacturing operations in countries like India rather than the United States. Trump’s public comments have drawn attention from market analysts and investors, raising questions about potential policy risks should he return to the White House.
“It’s a red flag for me that Trump continues to single out Apple and seems to have something against them,” said Randy Hare, director of equity research at Huntington National Bank. “It doesn’t mean that Trump is going to do anything more, but you can’t predict what’s going to happen, and that makes me cautious.”
Apple shares declined 2.3% in a recent trading session marked by broader market weakness, following OpenAI’s announcement of its acquisition of a hardware-focused startup co-founded by Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer. The news sparked fresh concerns about Apple’s position in the AI hardware race, where rivals are increasingly making bold moves.
Adding to the pressure, Apple stock has underperformed the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index, falling 1.2% over the past month compared with a 13% gain for the index. The company has also seen multiple downgrades from analysts concerned about slowing sales in China, limited AI-related product announcements, and lingering effects from past trade tensions.
While Apple avoided the brunt of tariff measures during the height of the US-China trade war, it remains exposed to geopolitical risks. Earlier exemptions for smartphones and computers helped stabilize shares, and the volatility index tracking Apple-specific options—the CBOE Apple VIX—has since fallen from five-year highs.
Still, Trump’s recent comparisons of Apple to competitors like Nvidia, whose CEO attended an investment summit in Saudi Arabia that Cook did not, have stirred further speculation about political motivations behind the criticism.
“Trump pointing out that Cook isn’t at some summit makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up,” Hare added. “It doesn’t seem normal to me.”
Others downplayed the impact. Lamar Villere, a partner at Villere & Co., believes investors are becoming less reactive to political statements.
“It gets a lot of attention from Trump, not all of it good, but I think investors are growing a callous to his complaints,” he said.
Despite these political risks, broader concerns about Apple’s growth trajectory may be more significant in shaping investor sentiment. Apple’s stock currently trades at 26.6 times forward earnings—above its 10-year average and at a premium compared to other mega-cap tech firms with faster projected growth. Skepticism over the company’s AI strategy and limited new product innovation have added to the cautious outlook.
“We’re not sure how Apple is going to offer AI or when,” said Hare. “That lack of innovation or new products keeps us on the sidelines.”
