Raymond James downgrades Apple
Speakers
Steve Kovach
— Technology Reporter, CNBC
Summary
CNBC's Steve Kovach reports that Raymond James resumed coverage of Apple with a downgrade to Market Perform from Market Outperform. The analyst cited Apple's rich valuation and said much of the potential value is already priced in. Because AI features in the new iPhone are expected to be free rather than paid, the fall upgrade cycle must drive hardware sales, but the expected upgrade cadence is not improving.
- Raymond James downgraded Apple to Market Perform from Market Outperform.
- The analyst did not issue a new price target.
- Apple shares were described as expensive after a strong second half of 2025.
- The note argues much of Apple's value is already baked into the stock.
- AI features in the new iPhone are expected to be free rather than paid.
- Raymond James expects the iPhone upgrade cadence to remain largely unchanged.
- The downgrade reflects a less attractive risk/reward for Apple.
Ideas
Apple downgraded; valuation bakes in growth.
Raymond James resumed coverage of Apple with a downgrade to Market Perform from Market Outperform and no new price target, arguing the stock's valuation is stretched at roughly 34x earnings after a strong second half of 2025 and the iPhone 17 growth cycle. The analyst says much of the value is already priced in and that future sales growth has to come from somewhere; AI is expected to be bundled free in new iPhones rather than a paid service like ChatGPT, so the fall AI upgrade must be good enough to drive new hardware sales. However, Raymond James expects the upgrade cadence to remain roughly the same, making the risk/reward less attractive.
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Speakers: Steve Kovach · Tickers: AAPL