New York, Feb 6, 2026, 16:14 ET — After-hours
- Apple finished Friday’s session at $278.44, rising 0.9%.
- A crunch in memory chips is putting Apple in a bind—either bump up iPhone prices or take the margin hit.
- EU regulators decided Apple Ads and Apple Maps won’t carry the DMA “gatekeeper” tag.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O) finished Friday up 0.9%, ending the session at $278.44. The move comes as a tightening memory‑chip market fuels speculation over possible iPhone price hikes this year.
Memory prices are suddenly a key concern, with the scramble for AI data centers already pushing the market to its limits. Apple’s got muscle—both in scale and supply—but it can’t dodge the tradeoff: margin protection, or holding onto market share.
Another source of tension: regulation. Europe has been ramping up oversight on Big Tech, and traders haven’t hesitated to sell off at the first sign of fresh limits on expansion.
Apple opened at $277.11, moved between $273.40 and $280.81, and saw roughly 42 million shares traded.
AI data-center demand is squeezing the DRAM market, driving memory-chip prices sharply higher, according to Reuters. On the earnings call, Chief Executive Tim Cook kept Apple’s pricing strategy under wraps: “There are different levers that we can push,” he said. IDC’s Nabila Popal, senior research director, called it “the biggest question for the industry now.” 1
Apple is coming off a forecast for robust sales growth, thanks to solid demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. The company topped global smartphone shipments last year, according to some estimates. Analysts say its sheer scale could help if shortages hit the market.
Apple’s longstanding relationships with major suppliers—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron—mean the company is likely able to secure more DRAM than its smaller rivals, analysts say. Qualcomm pointed to shortages at handset makers in its latest forecast, which fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. According to finance chief Akash Palkhiwala, some top customers in China are coming up short on chips needed for phone production. During that call, Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes suggested Apple will probably grab a bigger slice of the DRAM supply than others.
Bloomberg News says Apple is getting ready to open up CarPlay to outside AI chatbots, not just Siri. For the first time, users could ask questions via voice to bots from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google’s Alphabet, according to the report. Siri’s button and wake word aren’t going anywhere, though—Apple plans to keep both as is. 2
The European Commission said this day that Apple Ads and Apple Maps won’t carry the “gatekeeper” tag under the Digital Markets Act, pointing to low user numbers and minimal impact across the market—so no extra requirements for those services. “These services face significant competition in Europe,” Apple said. 3
Apple jumped in as the Dow surged past 50,000 intraday, Nvidia and Caterpillar at the forefront of the charge. The pop followed a turbulent week that saw investors wrestle with nerves over AI and software stock prices. 4
Apple faces a squeeze from rising memory prices. Swallowing those costs would pressure margins, yet raising prices risks dampening demand—especially with the market looking sluggish this year, forecasters say.
Looking ahead, traders are eyeing any signal from Apple on possible iPhone price changes or shifts in production as memory costs climb. Supplier updates are also on radar. Apple just posted quarterly revenue of $143.8 billion, with diluted EPS coming in at $2.84. The company set a $0.26 dividend, payable Feb. 12 to shareholders registered by Feb. 9. “iPhone had its best-ever quarter,” said Cook. 5
