Apple Stock Continues To Wilt Under US-China Trade War Heat, Retail Bears Keep Growling

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) shares have been beaten and bruised from the latest maelstrom kicked in motion by President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and it therefore doesn’t come as a surprise the stock was the among the top five trending ticker on Stocktwits.

The tech giant’s shares have been in the red for four sessions in a row now, shaving about 23% off the company’s market capitalization. Its China exposure both in terms of supply chain and end-market has positioned it as a worst hit from the current geopolitical tensions.

The Apple stream on the platform also saw brisk activity, with the message volume rising 23% from a day ago by late Tuesday. The seven-day change in the message volume was nearly 440%.

The stock snagged a few price target cuts on Tuesday, The Fly reported, shortly after Wedbush’s Daniel Ives — the most bullish Apple analyst on Wall Street — slashed his price target by 23% to $250, which still implies an upside of 45% from the last close.

KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts kept an ‘Underweight’ rating on Apple shares and reduced the price target to $170 from $200, attributing the action to the use of a lower valuation multiple.

The firm said it now expects March-quarter iPhone and iPad revenue misses, and a beat on Mac revenue, citing proprietary KeyBanc First Look Data on consumer spending and the weaker commentary on upgrades from carriers.

Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring also took down his price target to $220 from $252 even as he maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating, noting significant near-term headwinds.

While the analyst sees China confrontation risks unlocking the bear-case for the stock, he remained positive due to “several mitigation efforts at play.” 

Also, the analyst thinks the market has priced in several of the concerns.

In separate news, a Wall Street Journal report said tariff concerns could give a boost to at least near-term sales. Sharing anecdotal evidence, the journal said several customers are heading to Apple stores to buy iPhones, fearing potential price hikes in the wake of the tariffs.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Apple stock turned ‘extremely bearish’ (21/100) by late Tuesday from the ‘bearish’ mood that prevailed a day ago. The message volume on the stream was ‘extremely high.’

Bearish watchers sounded out a potential down move toward the $96 to $100 area.

With its recent down move, the stock has backfilled the gap from May 2024. In another bearish signal, the stock’s longer-term 200-day simple moving average (SMA) has crossed over above the 50-day SMA, often called the death-cross pattern.

Apple shares ended Tuesday’s session down 4.98% at $172.42. The next support for the stock could be around the $165 area.

The stock has shed about 31% this year and trades way off its all-time closing high of $260.10 hit on Dec. 26.

Read Next: Trump's Treasury Secretary Labels Xi Jinping's Tariff Escalation 'A Big Mistake,' Says Chinese Are 'Playing With A Pair Of Twos'

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