Apple Stock Today, 28 November 2025: AAPL Near Record Highs as EU Scrutiny Meets iPhone 17 Hype

Friday, November 28, 2025 – Black Friday trading day in the U.S.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) heads into today’s shortened Black Friday session trading just below its recent record highs, with investors weighing fresh European regulatory risk against powerful tailwinds from the iPhone 17 cycle and the holiday shopping season. ^[1]

Apple stock today: key numbers (28 November 2025)

(All figures in USD, as of the latest available pre‑market and recent closing data.)

Last official close (Nov 26, 2025): $277.55, up about 0.2% on the day. ^[2]
Pre‑market indication today: around $278.5 (up ~0.35% vs. Wednesday’s close) ahead of the early 1 p.m. ET Black Friday close. ^[3]
52‑week range: roughly $169.21 – $280.38, with recent trading hovering near the top of that band. ^[4]
Market capitalization: about $4.1 trillion, keeping Apple in the ultra‑rare multi‑trillion‑dollar club. ^[5]
Valuation: trailing P/E in the high‑30s to low‑40s depending on the data provider; consensus 12‑month analyst price targets cluster around $276–278 per share with a “Buy/Moderate Buy” rating. ^[6]
Dividend: quarterly $0.26 per share (about 0.37–0.4% yield) following the November 13 payout. ^[7]

Year‑to‑date, Apple shares are up in the mid‑teens percentage-wise, with Simply Wall St estimating a 13.8% gain in 2025 so far, supported by optimism around AI features and the latest hardware refresh. ^[8]

Today’s major Apple stock stories (28 November 2025)

Key headlines shaping AAPL on 28 November 2025 include:

EU regulators start formal review of Apple Ads and Apple Maps under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
iPhone 17 buzz and Black Friday shopping event fuel expectations for a strong holiday quarter.
Technical screens flag Apple as a top breakout candidate near all‑time highs.
Institutional investors reshuffle stakes in AAPL, while insiders take profits after the rally.
Analysts debate valuation: AI‑driven upside vs. stretched multiples.

Let’s unpack each of these.

EU digital rules put Apple Ads and Maps under the microscope

The biggest policy headline today is coming out of Brussels.

What happened: EU antitrust regulators confirmed they’ll examine whether Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be formally labeled “gatekeeper” services under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) after Apple notified the Commission that both services now meet the law’s quantitative thresholds (45M+ users and €75B+ market cap). ^[9]
The Commission now has 45 working days to decide on the designation; if either service is labeled a gatekeeper, Apple would have six months to comply with tougher interoperability and anti‑self‑preferencing rules. ^[10]

Apple’s position:

Apple has filed rebuttals arguing that Apple Ads is a relatively small player in EU online advertising compared with rivals like Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok and X, and that it does not rely on cross‑service data sharing in the way regulators worry about. ^[11]
For Apple Maps, the company stresses that usage in Europe is “very limited” versus services like Google Maps and Waze and that Maps lacks the kind of critical “intermediation” functions the DMA targets. ^[12]

Why markets care

The DMA itself isn’t new for Apple — the App Store, iOS and Safari were already designated core platform services two years ago — but adding Ads and Maps to the list would expand the number of business lines subject to stricter EU rules and potential fines. ^[13]

For shareholders, this creates incremental regulatory overhang:

The EU can levy penalties of up to 10% of global turnover for serious violations under its competition framework, and Apple is also challenging India’s new antitrust penalty regime that similarly allows fines based on global revenue, with internal filings suggesting theoretical exposure of up to $38 billion in that jurisdiction alone. ^[14]

So far, the stock price reaction has been muted, suggesting investors see today’s DMA development as part of the ongoing regulatory “background noise” that is already baked into Apple’s premium valuation rather than a fresh shock.

iPhone 17, smartphone leadership and Black Friday buzz

On the growth side of the story, Apple continues to enjoy powerful narratives around the iPhone 17 cycle and holiday demand:

A fresh piece from Meyka highlights that anticipation for the iPhone 17 is running high, with investors watching whether new advances in battery life, camera tech and processing power translate into another blockbuster upgrade cycle. ^[15]
The article notes Apple’s stock has recently ticked higher to around $277.55, with year‑to‑date gains above 10% as markets price in stronger 2025–26 earnings from the new iPhone lineup. ^[16]

Meanwhile, multiple research and media reports over the past 24–48 hours suggest Apple is on track to overtake Samsung as the world’s top smartphone maker in 2025, for the first time in roughly 14 years, with shipments of the iPhone 17 family expected to rise around 10% this year. ^[17]

That smartphone narrative is being reinforced by:

The launch of Apple’s official 2025 Shopping Event — a Black Friday / Cyber Monday promotion running from November 28 to December 1 that offers Apple Store gift cards with eligible device purchases rather than straight price cuts. ^[18]
Coverage in retail‑oriented outlets like SFGate, which frame today as one of the best opportunities of the year to buy Apple hardware at a relative discount via these bundle deals. ^[19]

For AAPL, the read‑through is straightforward: a successful iPhone 17 cycle plus a strong holiday shopping event would support Apple’s guidance for the December quarter and help justify today’s rich valuation.

Wall Street’s view: AI momentum vs. valuation worries

On the fundamental side, the latest analysis from Simply Wall St — published today — captures the tension many investors feel around Apple at these levels:

Apple’s share price is up 2.2% over the past week and 13.8% year‑to‑date, a move the service links to growing optimism about Apple’s push into AI‑enabled features and hardware upgrades. ^[20]
Using a discounted cash‑flow (DCF) model, Simply Wall St estimates fair value around $224 per share, implying the stock trades roughly 24% above its intrinsic value on that metric (“overvalued” under their framework). ^[21]
But when they compare Apple’s P/E of about 36–37x to a “Fair Ratio” closer to 44x that accounts for its growth, margins and business quality, they conclude the current P/E actually looks “about right” relative to peers. ^[22]

Broad‑based data providers confirm that picture:

Analyst consensus: around “Buy/Moderate Buy”, with 20‑plus “Buy” ratings, a handful of “Strong Buy” calls, and a smaller cluster of “Hold” recommendations. ^[23]
Average 12‑month price target: roughly $276–278, more or less in line with where the stock is trading now, indicating that Wall Street broadly sees Apple as fairly valued rather than a deep bargain after its recent run. ^[24]

In other words, today’s rally is less about a sudden re‑rating and more about the market growing into Apple’s already‑premium multiple as earnings estimates drift higher.

Institutions reshuffle Apple exposure as insiders take profits

Filings and institutional‑ownership articles dated November 28 highlight a flurry of portfolio adjustments in Apple:

Chilton Capital Management increased its stake in AAPL by 3.8% in Q2, to about 464,742 shares, making Apple its 5th‑largest holding at roughly 3.5% of the portfolio. ^[25]
Envestnet Asset Management added 167,231 shares, lifting its position by 1.3% to 12.73 million shares, with Apple now around 0.8% of its assets and its 21st‑largest position. ^[26]
On the other side, Ingalls & Snyder LLC trimmed its AAPL stake by 10.1%, though Apple still ranks as the firm’s 7th‑largest holding, while Delta Investment Management and Saybrook Capital NC also reported modest reductions. ^[27]
Prudent Man Advisors, by contrast, lifted its Apple position by 28.7%, underscoring that some managers continue to add even at these prices. ^[28]

Across these filings, institutional ownership sits around 67–68%, a level that has been broadly stable, suggesting no wholesale rotation out of Apple even as some funds lock in profits after the stock’s breakout. ^[29]

At the same time, several reports note that:

Insiders have sold roughly 228,000 shares (around $58.6 million) over the past three months, including sizable sales by senior executives, as the stock rallied to new highs. ^[30]

Insider selling at all‑time highs isn’t unusual, but it does reinforce the perception that a lot of good news is already priced in.

Technical picture: AAPL flagged as a breakout candidate

Technically minded traders are also focused on Apple today.

Screening platform ChartMill updated its Apple note on November 28, highlighting that:

Apple earns a technical rating of 9/10, reflecting strong price performance across multiple time frames and a share price comfortably above key moving averages.
It also receives a high Setup Quality rating, indicating the stock is consolidating in a tight range near the top of its recent move — a classic pattern traders watch for an upside breakout. ^[31]

Recent price data backs this up: Apple has been trading in the high‑270s, just below a 52‑week (and effectively all‑time) high around $280–281, after a 36%+ advance since summer according to recent commentary from outlets like Barron’s and other market watchers. ^[32]

With that backdrop, any positive surprise — for example, stronger‑than‑expected Black Friday / Cyber Monday demand data or a perceived softening in regulatory risk — could easily push AAPL into fresh record territory.

Macro and market context: Black Friday and futures glitch

Today’s session also comes with some unusual market color:

U.S. stock index futures saw a temporary trading halt this morning due to a Chicago Mercantile Exchange data‑center glitch, although ETF proxies like SPY and QQQ were still trading higher. ^[33]
A Benzinga/inkl market wrap notes that Apple was up about 0.3–0.4% in pre‑market trading on Black Friday, with gift‑card‑based promotions running through December 2, and that AAPL maintains strong up‑trend scores but a weak “value” ranking in their factor screens. ^[34]

That combination — a risk‑on tape, a shopping‑heavy calendar day and a glitch‑driven focus on market plumbing — adds a little extra volatility potential for mega‑cap tech, including Apple.

Key risks and catalysts to watch next

Even for a company as dominant as Apple, today’s optimism is balanced by a crowded risk docket:

Regulation:
- The EU DMA review of Apple Ads and Maps (decision due within 45 working days) and potential follow‑on obligations. ^[35]
- The Indian antitrust penalty challenge, where Apple is contesting rules that could, in theory, expose it to multi‑tens‑of‑billions in fines based on global turnover. ^[36]
- Ongoing legal battles, including a U.S. conflict‑minerals lawsuit alleging the use of minerals linked to abuses in Congo and Rwanda, and broader scrutiny of App Store practices worldwide. ^[37]
Operational adjustments:
- Rare job cuts across Apple’s global sales organization — affecting teams that serve enterprise, education and government clients — have been reported this week, underlining that even Apple is tightening in some areas amid sector‑wide cost pressure. ^[38]
Competitive landscape:
- In AI, Apple is still seen as less aggressive on big‑ticket data‑center spending than rivals like Alphabet, Microsoft and Nvidia, which could limit investor enthusiasm if AI‑driven growth fails to materialize across devices and services. ^[39]

Upcoming catalysts:

The next earnings report is scheduled for January 29, 2026, where investors will get a clearer read on iPhone 17 demand, services growth and early 2026 guidance. ^[40]
Regulatory milestones in the EU and India, plus any resolution or escalation of legal disputes, could shift sentiment meaningfully in either direction. ^[41]

What today’s setup means for Apple investors

Putting it all together, as of 28 November 2025:

Fundamentals: Apple just delivered an earnings beat (EPS $1.85 vs. $1.74 expected, revenue up 8.7% year‑on‑year to ~$102.5B) and remains a cash‑generating giant with a rapidly growing services and wearables ecosystem. ^[42]
Growth narrative: Strong iPhone 17 demand, the prospect of reclaiming the global smartphone crown, and an emerging “Apple Intelligence” / on‑device AI story are helping justify a premium multiple. ^[43]
Valuation: On most metrics, Apple trades at a full price — not bubble territory, but far from cheap relative to the broader market, with some models flagging 20–25% downside to intrinsic value if growth under‑delivers. ^[44]
Risk balance: Heightened regulatory and legal risk, plus rare job cuts and insider selling into strength, add reasons for caution even as the chart and smartphone data look bullish. ^[45]

For traders and longer‑term investors alike, today’s picture is one of a mega‑cap leader priced for excellence:

If Apple continues to execute on iPhone 17, AI features and services growth, and if regulators avoid the harshest remedies, current levels could prove a stepping stone to further gains.
If the macro backdrop weakens, holiday sales disappoint, or regulators take a tougher stance, a stock trading near record highs with a premium multiple has room to correct without looking obviously “cheap” on traditional metrics.

As always, this overview is informational only and not financial advice. Anyone considering Apple stock should weigh their own risk tolerance, time horizon and diversification needs — and, ideally, consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.

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