Apple stock is regaining momentum as naysayers are proven wrong about the iPhone upgrade cycle. It means opportunity. The stock soared to an intraday high on Monday after a slew of positive comments from Wall Street analysts and upbeat demand data for the latest iPhones. Apple was on track to hit a new all-time high of $259 at the close of December 26, 2024. “People thought the tariffs would increase the price of iPhones,” Jim Cramer said at Monday morning’s meeting. “People thought they wouldn’t be able to buy enough because of Siri. It’s all nonsense.” “The misconceptions and misunderstandings have gone too far. That’s why you buy,” Jim added. New numbers from Counterpoint show the new iPhone 17 lineup outsold the iPhone 16 model by 14% in the US and China in the first 10 days of launch. Bloomberg first reported the data. “The base model iPhone 17 is very attractive to consumers and offers excellent value for money,” Counterpoint said. Analysts at Counterpoint added: “A better chip, improved display, higher base storage, and selfie camera upgrades all come at the same price as last year’s iPhone 16.” “It’s a no-brainer to buy this device, especially when combined with channel discounts and coupons.” Over the past few weeks, Jim has been mentioning how the new iPhone is a great deal, considering the trade-in value of previous models and carrier discounts. Counterpoint also said the latest iPhone Air models performed “slightly better than the iPhone 16 Plus.” Pre-orders for the device began in China on October 17th and sold out almost immediately. “This is a major milestone for Apple and eSIM more broadly,” analysts said. iPhone Air is eSIM only. This means there is no physical SIM card option. AAPL YTD Wall Street analysts were enthusiastic about Mountain Apple’s (AAPL) year-to-date performance. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from Hold to Buy. Analysts also raised their price target to $315 per share from $226. This suggests an increase of over 19% from the session high of around $264. Analysts at Loop write: “While the Street has outperformed AAPL’s iPhone 17 family products to some extent, we believe there is still significant upside to the Street’s expectations through 2027.” In this case, “through CY2027” means through the 2027 calendar year. This distinction is being made because Apple’s fiscal year is such that any earnings announced after the October 30th bell will be for the company’s fiscal 2025 fourth quarter. Ben Reitz, an analyst at Melius Research, said Apple is “on a mission to silence its critics” and that a beat-raising quarter “could be on the horizon.” “In the short term, recovering sales to China, momentum from the iPhone 17 Pro Max and less damage from tariffs could lead to margin upside. We expect the stock to rally heading into CY26 and into the Siri/product event in March 2026,” said Reitzes, who has a buy rating on the stock and a price target of $290. “Apple’s Siri update is delayed,” he said. “But it’s about to get even better with significant AI enhancements.” None of this came as a surprise to Jim, who has been touting the benefits of Apple’s new iPhone models long before their September launch. “We’ve been saying the iPhone 17 was unbelievable, but now everyone is catching up,” he said Monday on “Squawk on the Streets.” Apple shares have risen nearly 5.3% since the beginning of the year, following Monday’s rise of about 4.5%. Stock prices in the first half of 2025 were completely unfavorable due to concerns around AI, various regulatory overreaches, and the potential for higher device costs due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But the stock has been trending higher since August after Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook made an additional $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing to appease the Trump administration’s calls to bring Apple’s supply chain back home. “From the beginning, people underestimated Apple because they felt it had lost its prestige,” Jim said. Monday’s flurry of positive news just reiterates why the stock has more room to run, and why Jim always says he owns Apple stock and shouldn’t trade it. Indeed, Apple stock still underperforms most of its Magnificent Seven peers, with the exception of Amazon, which is down 2% since the beginning of the year. (The Jim Cramer Charitable Trust is long AAPL, AMZN. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. 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Patient Apple bulls are vindicated, and the stock is just getting started
