Apple stock (AAPL) is down 5% to start 2025, not like its strong performances of the 2024 fiscal year. CNBC stock expert Jim Cramer, host of “Mad Money,” feels that there is something that has been holding the iPhone maker back this year, resulting in this fall-off. The grey cloud surrounding the markets stems from Trump-induced tariffs and other macroeconomic factors that affect trade and commerce. AAPL stock remains on the back foot in 2025 as a result of this poor market.
Cramer feels that the continued Tariff talks will continue to affect the stock market as a whole, including Apple. “As someone who cares about the stock market, I can tell you that we’re entering a new, more mercurial world where we have to start worrying about the president’s public appearances because we don’t know which country, which continent, which ally he is going to attack next,” he said on a recent episode of Mad Money. Cramer also emphasized that the unpredictability of tariff discussions has overshadowed other major economic concerns, including interest rates and bonds.
For Apple specifically, Cramer feels that the company is going in the right direction, especially with its $500B investment into US operations. However, the analyst suggests that Tariffs could affect the company’s growth overseas, hitting the overall stock performance. On Friday, Cramer said ““They could be hurt by tariffs tomorrow, seems wrong to me. Maybe that’s why Apple stock got hammered today. It ended up down $6.68 cents or 2.7%. When I searched for any reason, any reason, all I could come up with was one explanation: tariffs.”
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Cramer then added: “Sure, Apple’s an American company, it’s, it’s gonna make a lot of things here, but it gets a substantial number of its parts from Taiwan. It manufactures a huge amount of its products for cell phones in China.” The Santa Clara-based company’s performance overseas is just as important as its performance at home. Thus, until the company improves across the pond, the ceiling for 2025 remains low.
Leading on-chain metrics and price prediction firm Traders Union remains cautious about Apple’s prospects for March 2025. According to the price prediction, the average trading price for AAPL could be at the $240 level, which is the same price it’s moving in the charts in February. Therefore, if the market remains sluggish, AAPL’s price could be stagnant in March 2025 with little to no price spurts. On the flip side, if the markets turn bearish, Apple stock could dip and find resistance at the $216 mark. That’s a dip of 10% in just a month and could burn a hole in investors’ pockets.
