Apple Stock (AAPL) Gets Rare Barclays Sell as Soft iPhone Demand, AI Doubts Split Wall Street

31 March 2026

NEW YORK, March 31, 2026, 16:12 EDT

Barclays stuck with its Sell call on Apple and left its $248 price target unchanged, pointing out that iPhone unit trends are still looking weak.
Apple shares climbed roughly 2.8% in late afternoon trade, but the stock remained around 6% under where it finished on Jan. 2.
Bulls see momentum from rising China sales and a refreshed Siri, but skeptics argue Apple’s AI moves likely fall short of triggering another major wave of upgrades.

Barclays stuck to its bearish stance on Apple this day, bucking the rally in U.S. tech. Analyst Tim Long kept his Sell rating and a $248 price target, citing “iPhone unit trends remain soft.” Apple, meanwhile, was up roughly 2.8% to $253.65 late in the session. TipRanks

This isn’t just about Apple. Reuters noted on Friday that the Magnificent Seven made up roughly one-third of the S&P 500’s total market cap. That cluster is now wrestling with what Raymond James strategist Matt Orton calls a “perfect storm” of challenges for big tech. Reuters

Tuesday’s rally gave stocks a lift but left the quarter’s losses intact. Apple, for example, stayed about 6% under its Jan. 2 close of $271.01. Microsoft, Nvidia, and Alphabet all logged big gains, too, as the Nasdaq jumped more than 3% amid hopes for a cooling in the Middle East conflict.

Barclays’ note arrived just as Apple scrambles to shape the narrative around its AI efforts. According to Reuters, Apple is currently trialing a new Siri feature capable of processing several commands at once. This comes only days after news broke that Apple intends to let Siri hand off queries to external AI tools, including Alphabet’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, in the upcoming iOS 27.

Long argues that just tweaking software probably won’t be enough to kickstart faster replacement cycles. According to TipRanks, he also pointed to decelerating services growth and what he sees as an overstretched valuation. A Motley Fool piece from March 29 went even further, suggesting Apple could turn out to be the laggard among the Magnificent Seven through 2030, citing the company’s continued reliance on the iPhone, along with mounting competition, regulatory risks, and trade headwinds.

Bulls aren’t out of the picture yet. On Monday, Seeking Alpha flagged the recent pullback as a possible entry point if Apple drops into the low $230s. Then Tuesday, Motley Fool cited Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring, who still sees nearly 28% upside over the next year, banking on higher iPhone upgrade demand in both the U.S. and China.

Not all signs point to a slowdown. On March 19, Reuters said Apple’s smartphone sales in China climbed 23% over the first nine weeks of 2026—a sharp contrast to the broader market slide. Back in January, Apple projected up to 16% revenue growth for the March quarter, citing stronger demand out of China and India. “Staggering” was how CEO Tim Cook described demand for the newest iPhones to Reuters at the time. Reuters

Valuation is still the main hurdle. Apple’s price-to-earnings ratio sits around 34, meaning investors are paying more for every dollar of profit compared to Microsoft at roughly 30 and Alphabet at 24. That premium helps clarify why Long described Apple’s stock as “high end” relative to its own history. TipRanks

Even so, risks aren’t one-sided. Bears could get squeezed if Apple nails its AI rollout before the June developer event, sparking fresh device sales. But bulls risk disappointment if customers balk at shelling out for Apple Intelligence, or if Siri upgrades miss the window to drive new hardware demand.

TipRanks shows Apple with a Moderate Buy rating, reflecting 14 buys, nine holds, and a single sell. Wall Street remains divided, and attention is turning to Apple’s developer event in June—Reuters reports the company plans to showcase software updates that have become a key point of contention.

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Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

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