Apple is a star (again) as investors hope tariffs don’t squeeze markets

Apple is a star (again) as investors hope tariffs don't squeeze markets originally appeared on TheStreet.

Stocks had a nifty week last week, especially technology shares.

All of the major averages had solid weeks. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.4%, its best week since June. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.87%. Its compadre, the Nasdaq-100 Index, added 3.73%. The small-cap Russell 2000 Index moved up 2.38%. And the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a 1.35% gain.

The market's gains came as new tariff rates for goods exported to the United States seemed to settle in at around 15%, with a number of deals not yet finished with a number of countries, including Canada, China and Mexico.

What's not clear is the effects tariffs might have on the domestic economy and has added volatility to financial markets.

There is a lawsuit now before the U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the president can not impose tariffs unilaterally.

Some stocks had positively gaudy returns. Palantir Technologies (PLTR) added 21.19% on the week after reporting its second-quarter revenue hit $1 billion, up 48% from a year earlier. It projected $4 billion-plus in revenue for the year.

Arista Networks (ANET) jumped 18.4%, and Axon Enterprise (AXON) , maker of the Taser and other equipment targeted at law enforcement, rose 13.5%.

But there have to be losers, and there were: Eli Lilly (LLY) , off nearly 18% Thursday because orforglipron, its GLP-1 weight-loss that can be taken with a pill, didn't perform as well as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy in the latest trial. It was the biggest one-day loss for Lilly in 25 years.

The Trade Desk (TTD) , an advertising platform that helps advertisers reach audiences across many channels, fell 37%.

Here we have to note Apple (AAPL) , a stock many people currently loathe. The iPhone is wonderful, they'll say. So is the Macintosh computer. The graphics are great.

But where's the artificial intelligence? Apple doesn't have an AI product to compete directly against Microsoft, Meta Platforms (META) and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL)

At the end of July, Apple was down 17.1% for the year. This week, Apple shares were up 13.3%, sixth-best among S&P 500 stocks and the 2024 stock price decline has been cut to 8.4%.

Reason: CEO Tim Cook said the company will invest an extra $100 billion on new plants in the United States. In exchange, the Trump Administration agreed to waive tariffs on Apple products made in China and India.

Its market cap has risen to $3.4 trillion.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 1. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, technology had the best week, rising 4.27%, followed by Consumer Discretionary at 3.81% and Communications Services.

Techs were led by Palantir, Arista Networks, Micron Technology (MU) and Apple.

Only three sectors were down on the week:

The overall S&P 500 Index is up 8.63% and 32% from the bottom after President Trump introduced what's proven to be a first draft of a tariff plan.

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After the market's decent-to-strong performance this past week, maybe in the back of your mind, you're thinking: Relatively speaking, how does it compare.

Nicely, as noted. But the S&P 500 Index, used often as a short hand for the market, hasn't had a record close in (gasp!) nine whole days.

Is this the end of the world?

Probably not. The index has already seen 15 record closes in 2025, and autumn has not yet arrived.

In 2024, in part because of the presidential election, there were 29 new record closes between July 26 and the end of the year.

In all, the index generated 57 new closing highs in 2024, according to Howard Silverblatt, Standard & Poor's senior index analyst.

The record is still 77 closing highs in 1995. And that was as the Internet Bubble of the late 1990s was just getting started.

The timing of new highs quite variable. The S&P 500 hit a closing high of 6,144.15 on Feb. 15.

It took 128 days — and the tariff-induced minicrash in April — before the index hit a new record close: 6,173 on June 27.

The week ahead includes 621 earnings reports, a goodly number until you remember that last week 1,552 companies reported quarterly results.

All will mention tariffs somehow.

The reports expected to grab the most attention will be:

Dow component Cisco Systems (CSCO) , due after Wednesday's close. Cisco makes routers and networking equipment. Revenue estimate: $14.5 billion, up 7% from a year ago. Earnings estimate is 91 cents a share, up 4.6%.
Chip-equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) , after Thursday's close. The revenue estimate: $7.2 billion, up 5.4% from a year ago. Earnings estimate: $2.35 a share, up 10.9%.
Farm-equipment maker Deere & Co. (DE) , before Thursday's open. Revenue estimate: $10.3 billion, down 21.7%. Earnings estimate: $4.60, down 27%.
Tapestry (TPR) , the owner of Coach leather goods and Kate Spade New York. Revenue estimate: $1.7 billion, up 5.4% from a year ago. Earnings estimate: $1, up 8.7%.