NEW YORK, Jan 4, 2026, 09:31 ET — Market closed
- Apple shares ended Friday down 0.31% at $271.01, slightly underperforming a flat Nasdaq on the first trading day of 2026.
- Raymond James resumed coverage with a Market Perform rating, pointing to valuation and a thin near-term catalyst calendar.
- Investors next watch the Jan. 9 U.S. jobs report, the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting, and Apple’s late-month results.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) shares last closed down 0.31% at $271.01 on Friday, after trading between $269.00 and $277.84. Volume was about 37.8 million shares, according to Investing.com data. 1
With U.S. markets closed on Sunday, Apple heads into Monday’s reopen facing an early-year reset in big-tech positioning. A heavy macro calendar and a late-month earnings report leave little time for the stock to drift.
Raymond James resumed coverage of Apple with a “Market Perform” rating — a Wall Street term that signals the shares are expected to track the broader market — and flagged valuation as a constraint on near-term upside, Barron’s reported. The note said Apple traded around 31 times the firm’s 2027 earnings estimate, several turns above its five-year average. 2
Apple’s dip came on a day when the Dow and S&P 500 ended higher, helped by a sharp rally in chipmakers, while mega-cap declines including Apple and Microsoft kept broader gains in check, a Reuters market report showed. “Buy the dip, sell the rip” has become the dominant mindset, Charles Schwab strategist Joe Mazzola told Reuters. 3
From a chart perspective, AAPL sits near its 50-day moving average of $272.83 — a short-term trend gauge traders use to spot momentum shifts — while the 200-day moving average is around $232.04, Barchart data show. The stock is down about 0.31% year-to-date. 4
Rate expectations remain a key swing factor for higher-valuation tech. Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson said on Saturday that another rate cut could take a while as policymakers assess inflation and the labor market, Reuters reported. 5
The next high-stakes macro read lands Friday, Jan. 9, when the U.S. Labor Department releases the December employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET. 6
The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting runs Jan. 27-28, with a decision and press conference slated for Jan. 28, according to the central bank’s calendar. 7
But Apple’s premium valuation leaves less room for disappointment than many peers. Any sign that holiday-quarter iPhone demand softened more than expected — or that services growth is slowing — can quickly turn a small selloff into a larger de-risking move.
The market’s leadership on Friday leaned toward semiconductors and industrials, a reminder that investors are still paying up most aggressively for companies seen as direct beneficiaries of the AI and data-center buildout. Apple’s nearer-term stock narrative hinges more on upgrades, services and execution than on a single headline catalyst.
When trading resumes Monday, investors will watch whether AAPL can reclaim its 50-day average and hold the $270 area after last week’s pullback.
The next Apple-specific catalyst is its quarterly report, due Jan. 29 after the close, according to TipRanks, when management’s outlook will be scrutinized for iPhone and services momentum and progress on Apple Intelligence features. 8
