NEW YORK, May 17, 2026, 11:01 (EDT)
Apple Inc. shares finished above $300 last week, a round number for investors as U.S. trading picks up again Monday. The stock ended at $300.23 on Friday, up 0.68% on the day after reaching $303.20. That’s about 2.4% higher than the previous Friday’s close of $293.32.
Markets are shut today. Nasdaq’s schedule puts normal trading hours Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and its 2026 holiday calendar lists Memorial Day, May 25, as the next break for U.S. equities.
Apple managed to rise even as the rest of the market struggled. U.S. stocks sold off hard Friday with inflation jitters back on higher oil and bond yields. The Nasdaq slid 1.54%. The S&P 500 shed 1.24%. The Dow dropped 1.07%, Reuters said. Bond yields rose, making growth names less attractive for some investors. A bond yield is what you get for holding government debt.
Apple got a lift from its results. On April 30, the company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue up 17% to $111.2 billion. Diluted earnings per share rose 22% to $2.01. CEO Tim Cook said it was Apple’s “best March quarter ever,” citing “extraordinary demand” for the iPhone 17 lineup. Apple
Services are still a key part of the stock pitch. This line covers App Store fees, subscriptions, and other steady revenue streams. Apple reported the segment hit an all-time high for the quarter. For a company selling hardware, steady services can help offset swings in iPhone sales cycles.
Wall Street’s bullish view is moving that way. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives bumped his Apple target to $400 from $350, saying the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference could prove a “major inflection point” for the stock, MarketWatch reported through Morningstar. Ives put Apple’s potential gain at $15 billion in new annual services revenue as the company turns into what he called a “consumer hub of AI,” or artificial intelligence. Morningstar
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani took a services-and-cash approach too, bumping his price target on Apple to $365 from $330 and sticking with an Outperform, per Investing.com. The firm thinks Apple can boost earnings per share and free cash flow—what’s left after operating costs and capital spending—even if iPhone unit growth stays modest.
The competitive picture is a factor. 9to5Mac, citing Counterpoint Research, said Apple’s U.S. iPhone sales rose 1.3% year over year in Q1, even as the wider U.S. smartphone market dropped 5.7%. The report pointed to solid iPhone 17 demand and Samsung’s Galaxy S26 delay as reasons for Apple’s gain.
Apple’s main event for the week is the run-up to June, with WWDC set for June 8-12. The company plans to unveil new tools, frameworks, and device features. Investors want to see how Apple handles AI and if it can become more than a premium brand.
Apple set a timeline on leadership change, with Cook moving to executive chairman and hardware boss John Ternus set for the CEO chair September 1. That means product execution, AI plans, and capital returns stay lined up for shareholders.
But the trade still has risks. Reuters said Sunday that some investors warn U.S. stocks might not factor in all the danger from higher inflation and bond yields. Peter Tuz at Chase Investment Counsel told Reuters, “a real fear that inflation is kind of embedded in the economy going forward.” In a separate report last week, Reuters said OpenAI has looked at legal steps against Apple as their AI tie-up breaks down, complicating Apple’s software plans. Reuters
Apple heads into Monday trading with support in focus at the $300 level. That will be the first line as the market deals with oil moves, yields and some AI-stock fatigue. The next challenge for Apple is proving to investors its services and AI strategy are worth the current price.
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