All hands on deck! Captain Cook is taking the helm.
Please note that we're not talking about the 18th century explorer James Cook, who led three voyages to the Southern and Pacific Oceans.
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We mean Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, who has been guiding the Good Ship Cupertino through the turbulent tides of tariffs that followed President Trump's April 2 Liberation Day levy-palooza.
Cook dropped anchor at the White House on Aug. 6 and joined Trump to announce that Apple was investing another $100 billion to expand its operations in the U.S.
“This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America,” Trump said at the news conference. “Today’s announcement is one of the largest commitments in what has become among the greatest investment booms in our nation’s history.”
Apple said in February that it would invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years and hire 20,000 U.S.-based workers.
Apple shares surge on investment deal
The company said at the time that it would build a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Houston, set to open in 2026, that would make servers to power Apple's AI services.
“This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America,” Cook said in a statement. “They produce components — semiconductor chips included — that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we’re grateful to the President for his support.”
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Trump also took time to say that he would slap tariffs of roughly 100% on imported semiconductors.
“We'll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors, but if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge, even though you're building and you're not producing yet,” he said.
Trump has criticized Cook and Apple for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid the tariffs his administration had planned for China.
In May, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones made outside the U.S., writing on Truth Social that he told Cook that he expected iPhones that will be sold in the U.S. to be “manufactured and built in the United States, not India or anyplace else.”
The announcement proved to be good news for Apple shares, which are off 12.2% this year.
“Apple jumped more than 5% following news that it was increasing its capital investment in the U.S. by $100 billion,” said TheStreet Pro's James “Rev Shark” DePorre in a recent column. “This strength offsets the weakness in thousands of smaller stocks.”
The investments are intended to bring more of Apple's supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the U.S. as part of an initiative called the American Manufacturing Program, but it is not a full commitment to build the iPhone domestically.
Analyst says Apple may be exempt from tariffs
The iPhone is Apple's most popular and profitable product as it consistently generates roughly half the company’s total revenue each quarter.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives praised Cook's efforts to make peace with the White House.
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“Cook has navigated this unprecedented tariff situation, proving that he is 10% politician and 90% CEO and [that at] times like this he will be using his strong ties globally to make sure it's smoother waters for Cupertino ahead despite concerns around AAPL’s growth initiatives with Trump heading down the ‘America First'/tariff path,” Ives said.
He maintained an outperform rating and $270 price target on Apple. But he also said that producing iPhones in the US remains “unrealistic given the cost structure vs. Asia/India and remains a fairy-tale concept. … Apple will invest in Macs, AI, and a host of other tangential initiatives, but NOT core flagship iPhones being built in the U.S.”
Bank of America Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan and his team boosted their price target for Apple by 10 bucks to $250 while reiterating their buy rating.
“Given the recent development of Apple's increased investment in the US, it seems increasingly likely that several Apple products will be exempt from tariffs,” the firm said.
Apple has the potential to gain smartphone market share in the U.S. “if competitors are exposed to tariffs while iPhones were to remain exempt,” he said.
While the the specifics are still unclear, B of A said, Apple seems likely to be exempt from at least the announced 100% tariff on semiconductors if not totally exempt.
“If exempt, we believe estimates would be revised higher as Apple guided a $1.1 billion impact from tariffs for their [fiscal fourth quarter] after incurring $800 million in tariff-related costs in” fiscal Q3, the investment firm said.
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