New York, June 18, 2026, 10:07 (EDT)
- Apple shares gained in early trading Thursday after CEO Tim Cook called product price hikes “unavoidable” due to higher memory and storage-chip costs.
- The move comes as investors watch to see if Apple can push through higher costs to buyers without hitting demand for iPhones, Macs or iPads.
- Chip stocks moved as well. Intel rose on reports of a possible Apple deal, and Micron gained along with other memory stocks.
Apple stock moved higher early Thursday. CEO Tim Cook said Apple will hike prices on its products because of higher memory and storage chip costs, pulling the iPhone maker into the AI supply crunch. Apple was last up 0.8% at $298.25. Intel gained 7.8%, Micron was up 6.6%.
Apple is facing the pressure now as memory stops being a simple input cost. CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal, per Reuters, that AI-powered data centers are squeezing DRAM supplies—dynamic random-access memory needed in phones, PCs and servers—along with storage chips. That leaves consumer electronics firms fighting for a smaller pool of components.
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook said. He didn’t specify any products or give a timeline.
The share move was more than traders responding to a price increase. Investors seemed to balance Apple’s pricing power—how much it can raise prices without seeing buyers walk—against worries that higher costs could squeeze gross margin, the part of revenue left once product costs are paid.
Tech stocks pushed Wall Street up at the open. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.49%. The S&P 500 was up 0.91% after the bell, Reuters said.
Chip stocks got a second jolt after Reuters said U.S. President Donald Trump announced Apple will work with Intel to design and make chips in the U.S. Apple and Intel did not reply to comment requests made outside normal hours.
Apple is facing an AI challenge as much as a hardware one. At last week’s developers conference, Apple said it’s using Alphabet’s Google Gemini for some of its new Siri models and will run larger models on cloud setups built with Nvidia chips. Bob O’Donnell at TECHnalysis Research called the rollout “AI for the masses.” Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, said the upgrades aren’t “earth-shaking” but argued they could finally make Siri a real chatbot. Reuters
Apple posted March-quarter revenue of $111.2 billion, a 17% jump from a year ago. Services revenue hit a new high. The company announced up to $100 billion more in share buybacks. Bulls say these numbers show Apple can handle a shock.
But the risk is visible. Raising iPhone or Mac prices could slow down upgrades, especially if buyers don’t see enough new AI features compared to rival products. Apple flagged in April that memory expenses would weigh heavier after the June quarter. Reuters said Apple projected a lower gross-margin midpoint for the June quarter than last quarter’s 49.27%.
Traders are looking at a shortened week as U.S. markets are set to close Friday, June 19, for Juneteenth, according to Nasdaq. Some positioning could move into Thursday’s session ahead of the break.
Apple is facing a tight market test: will raising prices keep margins up without slowing upgrades? Shares opened with buyers showing some trust in CEO Tim Cook. But if sales drop in the next round of launches, sentiment could reverse.
