A longtime Apple skeptic upgraded the iPhone maker, sending the struggling Club stock higher in Monday’s session. Perhaps counterintuitively, Jim Cramer isn’t ready to celebrate that call just yet. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi upgraded Apple’s rating to the equivalent of buy based on market performance and maintained a price target of $195 per share, a 15% upside from at Friday’s closing level. The call turned heads on Wall Street as the analyst had held a market perform rating since early 2018. Now, after a rough start to the year for Apple, Sacconaghi says “the withdrawal constitutes a point of change.” ‘attractive entry’. Apple stock ended last week down about 12% year-to-date, compared with a nearly 7% gain for the S&P 500. Club wariness of the upgrade comes from timing. The tech giant reports quarterly results after Thursday’s close, and the struggling stock has now regained its momentum. Including their 2.5% gain Monday, Apple shares have climbed about 5% since their 2024 low on April 19 and have outperformed the S&P 500 during that period. “Apple was skewed today by an upgrade (from) someone who, historically, has been incredibly wrong” about the stock, Jim said Monday. He added: “It’s gotten to the point where if you were a trader you would probably sell some.” AAPL YTD: Apple (AAPL) YTD Performance In Monday’s update, Sacconaghi offered a largely optimistic view of Apple’s long-term prospects – one that we share. Despite concerns from some investors that the company’s business in China would be “structurally impaired,” Sacconaghi said the company believes Apple’s “business prospects are largely unchanged.” Aside from being cheap relative to its recent history, Bernstein highlighted the upcoming iPhone 16’s generative artificial intelligence features as a positive for Apple stock — a call Jim has made repeatedly in recent months . Integrating the emerging technology into the company’s flagship device is expected to lead to an iPhone upgrade cycle as customers trade in their gadgets for the newest model. We received more AI-related headlines surrounding Apple on Friday evening. Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the tech giant has resumed discussions with Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI about integrating its technology into the next iPhone’s operating system. Apple remains in conversations with Alphabet-owned Google about a possible AI deal, Bloomberg also reported. The Club is waiting for Apple’s annual developer conference in June before speculating too much about management’s AI strategy. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL, GOOGL, and MSFT. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a transaction. Jim waits 45 minutes after a trade alert is sent before buying or selling a stock in his charity’s portfolio. If Jim talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after the trade alert is issued before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTMENT CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, AS WELL AS OUR DISCLAIMER. NO OBLIGATION OR FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULTS OR PROFITS ARE GUARANTEED.
The Apple logo.
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A long moment Apple Skeptics upgraded the iPhone maker, sending the struggling Club stock higher in Monday’s session. Perhaps counterintuitively, Jim Cramer isn’t ready to celebrate that call just yet.
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