Apple: Time to Take Profits?

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  Wolfgang Hagl
  Redaktor

In late August, Tim Cook took over as CEO of Apple . After 15 years as CEO, he joined the board of directors. The 65-year-old didn’t take a long break, however. On September 20, he met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the iPhone maker’s corporate headquarters. A few days later, Cook was among the select guests at a state banquet at the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the festive event in honor of Chinese leader Xi. The Apple executive sat at the head table with the two heads of state. Also seated there were the CEOs of AMD (Lisa Su), Tesla (Elon Musk), and Nvidia (Jensen Huang). Apparently, the U.S. administration wanted to place high-tech, semiconductors, and AI at the center of its relations with China.

A Disappointing Interim Report

Apple is active in each of these areas. China plays a central role in this regard. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 (as of the end of September), the tech giant generated nearly 18% of its revenue in the “Greater China” region. At the same time, the region was a growth driver. While Apple as a whole posted a 16.2% increase in revenue for the first three quarters, revenue in China rose by just under 30%. Wall Street was nevertheless not satisfied; analysts had expected even faster growth in the Far East. The iPhone maker also dampened expectations with its outlook. Cook projected revenue growth of 9% to 11% for the final quarter—the consensus had previously implied an increase of 12%.

Today marks the end of Apple’s fourth quarter and, with it, the 2026 fiscal year. From an operational standpoint, the past few months have been dominated by the next generation of products. In early September, the new CEO, John Ternus, unveiled, among other things, Apple’s first foldable smartphone. While the company will not begin accepting pre-orders for the iPhone duo until October 16, it is already shipping the iPhone 18 Pro. Based on an analysis of order times, J.P. Morgan reports that the product has seen “healthy” demand to date.

A Mix of Controversial Topics

The company will release its initial figures at the end of October, when Apple reports its results for the final quarter. At that time, the focus is likely to be on the AI strategy as well as—and especially—the issue of semiconductors. Over the summer, management had complained about shortages of electronic components—which was a major reason for their cautious outlook. The AI boom is putting a heavy strain on production capacity for processors and driving up prices. Apple is trying to pass these costs on to customers and has, for its part, raised prices on several products. The iPhone was initially left out of this. But “Apple fans” will have to dig deep into their pockets for the new models. The starting price for the foldable “Duo” is CHF 1,999, while Apple is asking a whopping CHF 3,199 for the version with 2 TB of storage.

Investment Solution

On Wall Street, the California-based industry giant experienced a volatile summer. On July 29, the day the earnings report was released, Apple hit an all-time high of USD 344.57. After the company presented its interim report after the market closed, sentiment took a turn for the worse. Within two days, the large-cap stock plummeted by as much as 13%. A floor has formed around the USD 300 level, from which Apple has since managed to recoup all of its losses. The short-term rally has stalled around the USD 340 level. Apple is now facing horizontal resistance at this point.

Given the recent gains, it is quite possible that profit-taking will occur first. This is also supported by the intense debate currently taking place on Wall Street regarding AI safety. With the Mini-Future Short with the ISIN CH1578878675 , traders can bet that Apple stock will bounce off the outlined resistance level and trend downward for the time being. The product, traded by BNP Paribas on Swiss DOTS, currently has a relatively moderate leverage of 3.7. Nevertheless, disproportionately large losses could occur if the bulls gain the upper hand and Apple breaks out to the upside.