Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares are retreating Monday after Jefferies took a bearish position on the iPhone maker, shifting its rating to Underperform from Hold and reducing its price target to $263.66 from $285.56. Here’s what you need to know.
- Apple stock is showing weakness. Why are AAPL shares declining?
Jefferies Cuts Apple Rating Following Supply Chain Checks
Jefferies analyst Edison Lee made the move after supply chain checks pointed to the cancellation of an all-glass iPhone that had been scheduled to reach consumers on Sept. 27, with low manufacturing yield identified as the reason the product will not go forward. Lee described the development as a major setback to Apple’s push toward higher-priced iPhone models at a time when memory costs have been surging across the industry.
Lee’s revised financial model reflects the damage. He trimmed his earnings per share projections for fiscal 2028 and fiscal 2029 by 2.1% and 3.4% respectively and applied an 8% reduction to his DCF-based valuation, producing a new price objective of $263.66 against a prior target of $285.56. That new figure implies approximately 16% of potential downside from current levels, which underpins the Underperform designation.
Apple’s Trade-In Value Increase Adds Another Layer of Uncertainty
A separate development is also factoring into Lee’s cautious view. Apple recently lifted iPhone trade-in values by roughly 5% in the United States and around 2% across European markets.
Lee said the higher trade-in credits could accelerate purchases of the iPhone 17 lineup in the near term, but warned that by pulling consumers forward into buying decisions sooner, the move risks thinning out the available buyer pool when iPhone 18 eventually arrives, adding pressure to a product cycle that has already been weakened by the all-glass model’s cancellation.
AAPL Shares Are Tumbling
AAPL Price Action: Apple shares were down 2.24% at $306.30 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro.
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