Apple: Keep the Faith

NASDAQ is up 23% year-to-date, while AAPL has gained 8%. Still, it's 101 points higher than April.

As an Apple investor and fan of its products, I've been rushed (panicked?) into doing things too soon. Last April, worried about tariffs and a trade war with China, I mothballed my 6½-year-old XS Max and bought an iPhone 16 Pro Max. (Halfway through the product year I would have normally waited to order the new iPhone models in September.) Two months ago, pleased that the stock had recovered from the April tariff scare when it had hit a low of $169.21, I sold some AAPL at $241.50.

Tim Cook (Morris/Bloomberg/WSJ)

I should have had faith that the new iPhone 17 would be a hit, the problems with China would lessen, the stock would rise even more, and that CEO Tim Cook knew what he was doing.

It took two quarters for Tim Cook to save Apple from what was almost a disastrous year.

President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs risked massively increasing the company’s costs. A pending court ruling imperiled Apple’s lucrative Google contract. Plus, the company was seen as lagging on artificial intelligence.

Facing so much uncertainty, Apple tumbled to a market capitalization of $2.6 trillion in April and lost its title as the world’s most valuable company.

Six months later, Cook pushed Apple’s market value above $4 trillion for the first time. That’s more than 10 times what the company was worth when Cook took over as chief executive from Steve Jobs 14 years ago.

I am pleased with the iPhone 16 purchase and that I took some profits in the stock. However, if I had not let emotions cloud my judgment, it would have been even better.