Apple is the worst-performing Mag 7 stock this year. Here's what analysts and investors say about whether you should buy the dip. - Yahoo

Apple is the worst-performing Magnificent Seven stock year-to-date by a large margin.
Shares of the iPhone maker are down 20% in 2025, amid headwinds related to global trade and AI.
Here’s what Wall Street analysts and investors say about where the stock may be headed next.

It’s been a rough year for Apple.

Shares of the iPhone maker were down 20% year-to-date through Thursday’s close, making it the worst-performing Magnificent Seven stock in 2025. The only other stock in the mega-cap cohort that’s down this year is Alphabet, which has lost about 9%.

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Analysts say the decline has been brought on by a whirlwind of factors outside the tech giant’s control, like the trade war, but its plunge this year could be a buying opportunity for long-term investors.

Angelo Zino, a senior equity strategist at CFRA Research, said investors are mainly fretting over the impact of tariffs. The vast majority of Apple’s iPhones are assembled in China, which could leave the firm more exposed to the impact of price increases.

President Donald Trump has also singled out Apple, calling for the company to make iPhones in the US or else pay a 25% tariff.

While Trump’s trade war hit legal stumbling blocks this week, the court battles add another layer of uncertainty to how the trade war could play out.

Apple, Zino said, is uniquely exposed to trade headwinds.

“Hardware is kind of in the middle, or in the eye of the storm, when it comes to the policy uncertainty, the tariff uncertainty that’s sitting out there,” Zino said, referring to how most tech hardware is manufactured abroad.

James Demmert, the chief investment officer at Main Street Research, also thinks Apple’s decline in the stock market this year is due to the company’s lack of “game-changing” products. It was also late in implementing AI in its phones, and AI hasn’t yet stimulated a boom in demand for iPhone upgrades.

“In terms of a new creative, blockbuster device or applications, the future is still uncertain,” Demmert told BI.

But, overall, many are still optimistic about the tech titan’s prospects and its ability to navigate the trade war. Here’s what analysts and investors say about what’s ahead for the stock — and whether it’s time to buy the dip.

Apple stock looks attractive on the basis of historic price-to-earnings, Goldman Sachs said this month.

The bank’s analysts said big risks to the stock include weakening consumer demand, potential disruptions to Apple’s supply chain, and the possibility that Apple will be under increased regulatory scrutiny in key markets.

Still, Apple is on track to continue growing, the analysts said, pointing to the “durability” of its revenue and product ecosystem.

Goldman has a “buy” rating for the stock and a 12-month price target of $253, implying 27% upside.

Apple might not be that affected if Trump follows through with a 25% tariff on iPhones, and the stock could rise slightly from current levels, UBS said.

If Trump implements a 25% tariff on phones not made in the US, that would likely only impact around 2% of Apple’s annual earnings per share, the bank estimated.

The firm has a “neutral” rating on Apple stock and $210 price target, implying 5% upside from current levels.

For long-term investors, it’s the right time to buy Apple stock, CFRA’s Zino told BI. The long-term growth trend for the stock looks intact, he said, and uncertainty surrounding tariffs and regulatory issues in China are likely to smooth out in the coming months.

“We believe that yes, it is a buying opportunity,” Zino said of the stock’s decline, predicting that the company’s pricing and brand power could make it better positioned to pass along the cost of tariffs to consumers.

Main Street’s Demmert also thinks the stock is a buy despite uncertainty about its product roadmap and what the company might do next to reignite excitement about the brand.

“We think all of the bad news is in the current price of shares,” Demmert told BI. “In terms of AI and the China trade war, we expect significant improvement in the back half of the year, making the shares attractive at these levels.”

Wedbush analysts wrote this week that Apple is equipped to navigate the headwinds from tariffs. The firm said that Apple remains one of its top picks in the tech sector for 2025.

They pointed to how CEO Tim Cook told investors that around 50% of iPhones being manufactured for sale in the US were now being assembled in India, in order to avoid tariffs imposed on goods imported from China.

“It feels like Apple has a very good grip around this very complex tariff issue with Cook being 10% politician and 90% CEO,” they wrote.

The firm reiterated its “outperform” rating and $270 price target on the stock, implying 35% upside from current levels.

The research firm said it believed that Apple is “misunderestimated” by investors.

While the near-term outlook for Apple looks “quite choppy,” the Company has an installed base of around 2.4 billion devices. Analysts wrote that Apple is also working on higher-priced variations of the iPhone and could have new initiatives related to its AI and services businesses underway.

The firm issued a “buy” rating and $240 price target for the stock, implying 20% upside from current levels.

Clockwise Capital’s chief investment officer, James Cakmak, said the firm had completely exited its position in Apple stock because tariffs make it too risky to hold, he told CNBC last week.

“What this simply creates is a no-win situation for anybody. Apple loses, consumers lose. And there’s no getting around it,” Cakmak said, referring to President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on the company. “It’s not something we think will derail the company in a material fashion. At the same time, as an investor, you have to look elsewhere other than Apple.”

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