Apple CEO Tim Cook meets former President Barack Obama at the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson | Getty Doubles
Apple shares rose more than 2% on Monday, pushing the company’s market cap back above $3 trillion, as Insane Street expressed some level of relief that the iPhone maker will be able to withstand President Donald Trump’s widespread bill of fares.
Late Friday, the Trump administration announced that phones, computers and chips were exempted from new bill of fares. Apple is among the most exposed companies to Trump’s tariffs because the majority of its iPhones, iPads and MacBooks are manufactured in China and other Asian sticks. Trump has called for Apple to make its products in the U.S.
Most of Apple’s critical imports were exempted from the schedule of charges, a move that Wall Street analysts said could save Apple billions in costs. However, delivery officials warned over the weekend that the exemptions were temporary and could change over the coming weeks.
“I pronounce to Tim Cook. I helped Tim Cook, recently, and that whole business,” Trump said Monday in a briefing with lady of the fourth estates in the Oval Office, referring to Apple’s CEO. “I don’t want to hurt anybody, but the end result is we’re going to get to the position of greatness for our country.”
Uncertainty here what the future holds helps explain Apple’s relatively muted gain on Friday. The stock is still down bordering on 9% in April after falling more than 8% in March. The 11% drop in the first quarter prominent Apple’s worst performance since 2023.
Apple is the most valuable publicly traded U.S. company once again, edging out Microsoft.
Apple hew down below the $3 trillion mark on April 4, two days after Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” that last will and testament place significant duties on China and countries where the company does manufacturing.
The stock rallied last week after Trump presaged his administration was dropping new tariff rates to 10% on imports from countries other than China, which would in spite of tariffs as high as 145%.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note Monday that the latest news from the Creamy House brings Apple’s “annualized tariff cost burden” to $7 billion, down from $44 billion as of Thursday.
Observant of: Having exposure to Apple is important
