Why Apple Stock Is No Longer a ‘Buy’ for Needham Analysts

Apple (AAPL), one of the famous seven shares, is no longer “purchase” according to Needom analysts.

The evaluation of the iPhone manufacturer is very expensive than its big technical colleagues and does not look prime with a strong device upgrade cycle, Needom has written to customers on Wednesday. Analyst Laura Martin down to “buy” Apple to “Buy” and withdrew his price target of $ 225. Martin said in a research report, “We run due to fundamental development headwinds and growing competitive threats for AAPL due to our expensive relative evaluation.”

Apple’s share-high growth is dependent on a successful iPhone upgrade cycle, which Needham does not expect within next year, even with the iPhone 17 expected to give up this decline. The downgrade arrives because Apple has turned into one of the worst performance in the luxurious seven shares so far in 2025. The stock is currently neck-and-neck with Tesla for that title, this year is about 18% below both.

The growth of smartphone shipment is expected to slow down

The demand for smartphone in general is under pressure, the technology analysis firm Counterpoint Research said on Wednesday. The group revised the forecast of its global smartphone shipment growth in 2025 to 1.9% – fulfilling its pre -estimation of 4.2%, increasing the impact of the US tariff. This year North America shipment is expected to fall by 3%, easily the worst projection for any field.

Counterpoint Associate Director Liz Lee said, “All eyes are on Apple and Samsung due to their contact in the US market.” “Although Tariff has played a role in our forecast amendments, we are also factoring in weak demand.”

President Donald Trump last month warned Apple that the administration would impose a tariff of at least 25% on the iPhone sold in the US, built in other countries in India, where the company has transferred production to avoid import taxes on China.

Apple is not a cloud company, Nidham says

An issue for Apple relative to his peers is that its progress in artificial intelligence can only be used to improve its own ecosystem, Needom said. Meanwhile, Google Parents Alphabet (Googl) can run revenue by levying other companies by imposing their Gemini models, and Amazn earns money from firms using its Amazon web services.

“Aapl is not the owner of a cloud business, so it becomes a cost center instead of a new (revenue) and margin reverse driver,” said Needam.

Apple will get a chance to make a case for the future at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week. According to Goldman Sachs analysts, the company is expected to start a possible new AI partnership with IOS updates as well as Google.

In addition to one of the 12 analysts covering the apple, the eight have “buy” or equivalent ratings, which have two “hold,” and two “cell” ratings. Their goals range from $ 170 to $ 270.

Apple’s shares were slightly changed to recent trading, above $ 203 per share. (Reading InvestopediaThe entire coverage of today’s trading is here.)