Tim Cook greets customer at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store on new product launch day on September 19, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Shanthi M·Stocktwits

Published Oct 15, 2025 | 5:21 AM GMT-04

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Apple, Inc. (AAPL) stock rose moderately in Wednesday’s early premarket session as traders digested a few headlines, including CEO Tim Cook’s visit to China.

Weighed down by geopolitical and macro concerns, Apple stock has lost about 0.71% this year. Offsetting some of the investor worries, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday pledged to boost the company’s investment in China, which continues to remain one of its primary supply bases and end markets despite the U.S.-China standoff.

Citing a Weibo post by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Bloomberg reported that Cook met with Li Lecheng, the country’s IT minister, on Wednesday. While Li reportedly called on Apple to work closely with local suppliers, the Apple chief thanked China for its support and committed to boosting cooperation with the country.

“The two sides discussed Apple's business development in China and strengthening cooperation in the electronic information sector. Zhong Zhihong, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also attended the meeting,” the social media post by the ministry read.

Cook reportedly posted on Weibo that he met Labubu-creator Kasing Lung and visited an Apple store in Shanghai. He also announced a donation to Tsinghua University, the country’s most prestigious college.

The development assumes importance as President Donald Trump has been pressuring companies to shift manufacturing back to the U.S. Apple has responded to his call by announcing up to $600 billion in domestic investments, with the bulk of the outlays going into its supply chain partners.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Apple stock remained ‘bearish’ as of early Wednesday, and the message volume was at ‘low’ levels.

Screenshot 2025-10-15 at 5.16.51 AM.png — AAPL sentiment and message volume as of 5:15 a.m. ET, Oct. 15 | source: Stocktwits

Separately, a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, stated that for the first time, the company was planning initial manufacturing of new hardware products outside of China. The company is considering manufacturing its upcoming smart home products in Vietnam, a Southeast Asian nation.

In another development, Apple SVP Marketing Greg Joswiak teased the imminent launch of a new MacBook model in a post on the X platform. He shared an image of a laptop opening partly with the text “Coming Soon”, captioning the post as “something powerful is coming.”

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