Apple Stock Hits Record Territory as Traders Sour on AI Spending

[MacRumors]

Apple shares have rallied 15 percent since their worst day on the stock market in more than a year, adding almost $600 billion in value since June 25 and returning the stock to record territory (via Bloomberg).

The rebound comes as investors grow uneasy about the mind-boggling sums of cash continually being poured into the AI data center buildout, despite there being no obvious indicator for when investors will get a return on their investment.

Apple's decision to sit out the data center spending spree and instead pay Google for access to its frontier AI models is being increasingly seen by traders as an asset rather than a liability. Apple is using Google's Gemini to underpin the revamped version of Siri and new Apple Intelligence features across its platforms.

Apple's WWDC presentation last month of upcoming AI features in iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate initially sent the stock lower, but it has since rebounded in impressive fashion.

The rally has occurred in spite of the fact that Apple is facing pressure from soaring memory chip costs, which was what prompted the company to raise prices on Macs, iPads, and its Home devices on June 25. That was the move that triggered the company's worst single-day stock drop since April 2025, with shares closing at $275.15. Apple's iPhone models were spared similar price hikes, but the company has hinted that further increases could follow.

Investors are also viewing Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone, expected in September, as a potential catalyst, according to Bloomberg. Nikkei reported earlier this month that Apple told suppliers to prepare for around 10 million units this year, up from a prior forecast of seven to eight million.

Apple shares are now up 16 percent in 2026, making it the best performer among the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants, which includes Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla. AAPL closed at $315.32 on Friday, just shy of its all-time high of $317.40 set in early June.

In the coming days, MacRumors will be speaking with a prominent technology commentator about whether Apple's decision to avoid the AI data-center arms race is actually becoming a strategic advantage. Stay tuned.

Article Link: Apple Stock Hits Record Territory as Traders Sour on AI Spending

 

[HaHaRich!]

I’m very curious to see what happens when the data center bubble pops.

 

[All Taken]

OpenAI would do well to steal this aspect too. Looks like you can't simply steal everything and expect to perform.

 

[DocMultimedia]

I've been enjoying the ride over the years. I'm guessing the next stock posting will be when they hit $5T.

Hopefully, for short term, the earnings call at the end of the month goes well.

 

[I7guy]

I’m sure that was Mr. Cooks decision. Go Timmy.

 

[bLackjackj]

The ashtray is back! 👏

 

[vegetassj4]

I’m very curious to see what happens when the data center bubble pops.

It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th 2026. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

 

[tonywalker23]

My first Apple purchase: In 2003 during the back to school deal, I bought a 12" PowerBook G4, a 3rd generation iPod, a Canon i450 printer, and a Brenthaven case.

My life could be so much different if I had bought stock instead of that.

 

[ECHLN]

I’m very curious to see what happens when the data center bubble pops.

How many years have we been saying this now?

 

[spillled typos]

How many years have we been saying this now?

AI bubble has proven to not be a bubble. Data center bubble, that's a different story.

 

[All Taken]

How many years have we been saying this now?

How many years did it take for other crashes to occur? Dot com crash? Financial crisis of 2008?

 

[Avatar74]

AI bubble has proven to not be a bubble. Data center bubble, that's a different story.

My brother works for AMD. I would not be so quick to say the AI bubble is not a bubble...

 

[one more]

Apple did the right thing not spending any money on building the servers and instead renting the most promising ones of Google, since Alphabet, unlike many other AI players, is actually making profit from other services, thus helping to bear those crazy costs.

 

[IIGS User]

I’m very curious to see what happens when the data center bubble pops.

I'm pretty sure is somehow resembles the .COM bust and the Telcom bubble of the late 90's early 2000's. Lots of money will be raised through stock speculation and aggressive investing. The bubble will burst leaving massive amounts of unused infrastructure behind that will end up being the basis of the next tech build out.

This unused infrastructure that was build on the folly of overly aggressive investors will be acquired for pennies on the dollar and eventually make someone else rich and promote countless innovations.

You know, like Global Crossing, MCI, WorldCom. It's all a swirling pit of Monopoly money to the Finance Bro's. They get rich of the buying and the selling, so winners and losers don't matter. Just keeping the money moving back and forth until the next crash.

Every crash has am Arthur Anderson, Bear Sterns, or Lehman Brothers. So some "too big to fail" company will eventually fail in all of this.

Given Apple's lack of investment on this front and willingness to use someone else's technology to ride it out, I would say Apple is actually well positioned going into the impending AI crash. When the crash comes they can use cash reserves to scoop up whatever company is the best ROI.

 

[Avatar74]

You know, like Global Crossing, MCI, WorldCom. It's all a swirling pit of Monopoly money to the Finance Bro's. They get rich of the buying and the selling, so winners and losers don't matter. Just keeping the money moving back and forth until the next crash.

Tech/telecom veteran and investor here. Not to put my confidence behind AI (because it's not), but the difference between these bubbles is that the companies involved in the current bubble are not massively leveraged. So the damage may be localized to the sector, or across industries, but the lenders are already putting distance between themselves and expansion projects so it's a little less likely that there'll be a systemic financial collapse. Of course that is assuming everything is above board.

HOWEVER, that should be irrelevant to you as an investor because prices are hyper inflated regardless... Market to GDP has skyrocketed to 238%.... for reference, it was 138% just prior to the market crash of 2000. The velocity with which market price has gotten away from fair market value is alarming.

Whether you interpret that as meaning there is a crash imminent or simply that prices are ridiculous, it's one or the other or both... but not neither.

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." - Warren Buffett

 

[CodeSpyder]

I'm hoping that the ram chip bubble bursts at least a little, back to where it was.

 

[terminator-jq]

I think Apple has the right idea with prioritizing AI that runs on device rather than relying on data centers but the execution of that idea has yet to pan out. M4 was supposed to be an AI chip, iPhone 16 was supposed to be the AI phone… which didn’t happen.

On device AI models still requires jumping through tons of hoops to load Lama or similar. I’d like to see Apple offer their own solution for this along with making it easier for users to load their own models and add functionality.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

OpenAI would do well to steal this aspect too. Looks like you can't simply steal everything and expect to perform.

And lie in court

OpenAI may have made a fatal misstep in copyright fight with news orgs

OpenAI may be sanctioned for hiding, deleting ChatGPT logs in NYT copyright fight.

arstechnica.com

 

[All Taken]

And lie in court

OpenAI may have made a fatal misstep in copyright fight with news orgs

OpenAI may be sanctioned for hiding, deleting ChatGPT logs in NYT copyright fight.

arstechnica.com

Sam Altman is very quickly following the Zuckerberg path.

 

[Avatar74]

I think Apple has the right idea with prioritizing AI that runs on device rather than relying on data centers but the execution of that idea has yet to pan out. M4 was supposed to be an AI chip, iPhone 16 was supposed to be the AI phone… which didn’t happen.

On device AI models still requires jumping through tons of hoops to load Lama or similar. I’d like to see Apple offer their own solution for this along with making it easier for users to load their own models and add functionality.

This has a lot to do with why I'm saying that the notion that there's not a bubble is flawed... The perception there is mostly based on speculation about the demand, but not about the promised pace of hardware delivery which is starting to become unsustainable. Two key departures at AMD should clue everyone into this (publicly available info)...

Note: NO material nonpublic information is behind my comments.

 

[JMalone]

I’m very curious to see what happens when the data center bubble pops.

The article headline is false. AAPL target was increased to $280 by two institutions.

Data center demand remains extremely high and they all state that demand is outstripping supply until 2028. They are building out to meet the demand.

There are market manipulators and anarchists cosplaying as Dune characters trying to make you hate datacenters. It’s an old anti science and anti industry trick. Make you believe in the Garden of Eden perfection and everything else is evil.

They even call them “AI datacenters” to make you believe it is SkyNet, but they don’t exist. All datacenters are multi-purpose datacenters.

Well if datacenters are evil delete all your email accounts, never stream or download anything, only use borked 1995 applications and systems, don’t play multiplayer games, and enjoy global economic crash so hard you’ll be eating tarmac for dinner.

 

[All Taken]

The article headline is false. AAPL target was increased to $280 by two institutions.

Data center demand remains extremely high and they all state that demand is outstripping supply until 2028. They are building out to meet the demand.

There are market manipulators and anarchists cosplaying as Dune characters trying to make you hate datacenters. It’s an old anti science and anti industry trick. Make you believe in the Garden of Eden perfection and everything else is evil.

They even call them “AI datacenters” to make you believe it is SkyNet, but they don’t exist. All datacenters are multi-purpose datacenters.

Well if datacenters are evil delete all your email accounts, never stream or download anything, only use borked 1995 applications and systems, don’t play multiplayer games, and enjoy global economic crash so hard you’ll be eating tarmac for dinner.

You're saying there's still a chance of a warm meal and no gas turbine infra noise disrupting my health. I mean, 1995 here I come.

 

[Brien]

My first Apple purchase: In 2003 during the back to school deal, I bought a 12" PowerBook G4, a 3rd generation iPod, a Canon i450 printer, and a Brenthaven case.

My life could be so much different if I had bought stock instead of that.

Same. A few thousand of AAPL in the 90s would be millions now

 

[Avatar74]

Same. A few thousand of AAPL in the 90s would be millions now

Ask me how I know!

(My first AAPL annual report was 1987; the same year they started distributing floppies of the annual report in Hypercard; I wish I'd kept it as a memento of Sculley's greatest failure.)

 

[thebarrkbyte]

AI is a Bubbbbbbbbbbbbblllleeeeeeeee