Apple’s $100B US investment is ‘all about tariff exemption,’ says Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo said Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) additional $100B investment in the U.S. is all about tariff exemption.

The firm has an Overweight rating and $245 price target on Apple’s stock. Shares of Apple climbed about 3% premarket on Thursday.

“Apple’s announcement of an additional $100B investment in the US will (should) be viewed as more about posturing/a deal to minimize tariff impacts, i.e., companies committed to building in the US would be exempt from tariffs,” said analysts led by Aaron Rakers.

On Wednesday, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced the company’s U.S. investment commitments in an Oval Office event, saying that the company would boost an early 2025 commitment by $100B over the coming four years. This would take the total commitment to $600B in the U.S. over that time span, up from an early February promise to invest $500B.

Apple said on Wednesday that it is working with its suppliers to accelerate manufacturing in the U.S. through the new American Manufacturing Program, or AMP.

The first AMP partners include Corning (GLW), Coherent (COHR) GlobalWafers America, Applied Materials (AMAT), Texas Instruments (TXN), Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) GlobalFoundries (GFS), Amkor (AMKR) and Broadcom (AVGO). This builds on Apple’s July commitment to buy American-made rare earth magnets from MP Materials, the company added.

Rakers and his team said that President Trump talked about plans to impose 100% tariffs on imports of semiconductors, but added that “the good news for companies like Apple is if you’re building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge.”

The analysts noted that Apple’s announcement made no reference to bringing final iPhone assembly into the U.S.

Earlier on Thursday, Wedbush said that Apple’s $100B investment in the U.S. is a “good strategic poker move” for Cook.