Apple Stock Today (AAPL): China iPhone Rebound, Buffett Rotation and CEO Talk

Apple stock (NASDAQ: AAPL) is starting Tuesday, 18 November 2025, with investors digesting a flurry of headlines: a sharp iPhone 17 rebound in China, slowing but still solid growth in India, Warren Buffett’s continued rotation out of Apple and into Alphabet, and fresh reports that hardware chief John Ternus is the leading candidate to succeed Tim Cook as CEO. ^[1]

AAPL price snapshot: where Apple stock stands today

As of the latest available data:

Monday close (17 November 2025): Apple fell 1.8% to $267.46, with around 45 million shares changing hands. ^[2]
After-hours Monday: The stock ticked higher to roughly $269 per share. ^[3]
52‑week range: Recent data put Apple’s 52‑week high around $277 and its low near $169, meaning shares trade roughly 3–4% below their peak and more than 50% above the low. ^[4]
Market cap: Depending on the data provider, Apple’s value sits at about $4 trillion, keeping it among the world’s most valuable public companies. ^[5]

In other words, AAPL is still priced as a mega‑cap, premium tech franchise—just off all‑time highs—despite a modest pullback to kick off Thanksgiving week.

The big story: iPhone 17 drives a China comeback

The headline driver for Apple today is new October smartphone data from China that show the iPhone 17 cycle roaring out of the gate:

Research firm Counterpoint reports that Apple captured 25% of the Chinese smartphone market in October, meaning one in four smartphones sold in the country was an iPhone. ^[6]
iPhone unit sales in China jumped 37% year‑on‑year in October, powered by strong demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. ^[7]
New iPhone models accounted for more than 80% of Apple’s unit sales in China, and all three iPhone 17 variants showed double‑digit growth versus last year’s iPhone 16 equivalents. ^[8]
Counterpoint analysts say the October momentum “points to a record December quarter” for Apple in China, while still flagging the upcoming Huawei Mate 80 launch on 25 November as a key risk to monitor. ^[9]

This China rebound matters because:

Greater China is roughly mid‑teens percent of Apple revenue and was the only geographic segment that declined year‑on‑year in Apple’s September quarter. ^[10]
Apple’s own guidance for the December quarter leaned on iPhone 17 strength in China plus record Services revenue to deliver renewed growth. ^[11]

Today’s data largely validate that guidance: they suggest Apple is successfully re‑accelerating in a market that had been the key bear argument for the stock all year.

CEO succession watch: John Ternus moves to the front of the line

Another big narrative around AAPL today is leadership succession:

Multiple reports say Tim Cook may step down as CEO as early as next year, after about 14 years in the role. ^[12]
John Ternus, Apple’s 50‑year‑old senior vice president of hardware engineering—and the executive who has introduced recent flagships like iPhone Air on stage—is now widely reported as the leading internal candidate to become Apple’s next CEO. ^[13]
Sources cited by the Financial Times and Times of India say the board has intensified succession planning, stressing that the move is not linked to Apple’s current performance and that an announcement could come early in 2026. ^[14]

Ternus has been at Apple for more than two decades and now influences product roadmaps, features and strategy across much of the hardware portfolio. ^[15]

From a stock perspective, succession risk is always a wild card, but investors may take comfort in:

Cook’s long‑stated preference for an internal successor. ^[16]
Apple’s track record of executing smooth transitions, notably from Steve Jobs to Cook in 2011. ^[17]

Still, markets will be watching closely for any formal timeline, and for how a hardware‑centric CEO would approach Apple’s AI and services roadmap.

Design shake‑up: iPhone Air’s star designer heads to an AI startup

On the product‑culture front, Apple’s famed design organization is in the spotlight again:

Abidur Chowdhury, the industrial designer who helped develop iPhone Air and starred in its launch video, has left Apple for an AI startup, according to Bloomberg reporting. ^[18]
His departure “made waves internally” because of his growing profile within the design team and his key role in shaping Apple’s new ultra‑thin iPhone. ^[19]
The exit comes after a series of changes: longtime COO Jeff Williams, who oversaw design, left recently, and Apple’s design teams now report directly to Tim Cook. ^[20]

Investors usually don’t move the stock on individual design hires or departures, but today’s headlines reinforce a broader theme: Apple’s Jony Ive–era design culture has largely turned over, with a newer generation now steering hardware and interface decisions. ^[21]

India: growth slows, but the base is much bigger

Alongside the China rebound, Apple’s India story is flashing a more nuanced signal:

Apple’s India sales rose 18% year‑on‑year to ₹79,378 crore (roughly US$9.5–10 billion) in the last fiscal year—its slowest growth in six years, but off a much larger base. ^[22]
Analysts note that since 2020, India revenue had been growing 30–70% annually, so a slowdown is largely the result of scale and a higher contribution from older, cheaper iPhone models, which now make up about two‑thirds of Apple’s smartphone sales in India. ^[23]
Despite the slower percentage growth, India has become Apple’s fourth‑largest market globally by shipments, after the US, China and Japan. ^[24]

For AAPL stock, the takeaway is that India remains a strong growth pillar, but investors should temper expectations for perpetual hyper‑growth as the market matures and low‑priced legacy models dominate volumes.

AI strategy and Elon Musk’s “Grok instead of ChatGPT” moment

AI remains a sore spot for Apple in the eyes of many investors, and today brought more headlines:

A US federal judge recently allowed Elon Musk’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI to proceed, in a case that alleges Apple made ChatGPT the exclusive AI model for Apple Intelligence features on its devices, unfairly disadvantaging rivals like Musk’s xAI. ^[25]
On X (Twitter), a user publicly urged Apple to “dump” ChatGPT and use xAI’s Grok 4.1 to fix Siri; Musk replied “I’m down,” signaling openness to a hypothetical xAI–Apple tie‑up even while his companies are suing Apple. ^[26]

Grok 4.1 just launched and is being marketed as a cutting‑edge model on several benchmarks. ^[27]

For shareholders, the immediate risk is headline‑driven regulatory and partnership uncertainty around Apple’s AI strategy. More structurally, investors are asking whether Apple is investing enough in AI compared with peers like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon—a concern echoed in coverage of its CEO succession and AI leadership churn. ^[28]

Buffett trims Apple, buys Google: what that means for AAPL

Perhaps the most psychologically important story for Apple bulls is the continuing shift at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway:

New analysis of recent SEC filings shows Berkshire has trimmed its Apple stake by more than 40% since early 2024, after Apple once made up nearly a quarter of the portfolio. ^[29]
Commentary from Buffett and his team suggests they see Apple stock as trading at a significant premium to their estimate of fair value, with the price more than doubling since 2022 while revenue has been comparatively flat. ^[30]
Proceeds from Apple sales have helped Berkshire build a record cash pile (over $380 billion) and fund a new $4.3 billion position in Alphabet (GOOGL), which is now its 10th‑largest holding. ^[31]

Market reaction so far:

Monday’s trading saw Apple down about 1.8%, while Alphabet rose over 3% as investors digested Berkshire’s shift. ^[32]

Buffett’s move doesn’t automatically mean Apple is a bad business; instead, it underscores a key debate:

Has Apple’s stock price run too far ahead of its earnings and revenue growth?

With Apple’s trailing P/E around the mid‑30s and price‑to‑sales above 9x according to recent YCharts data, it is certainly not priced like a value stock. ^[33]

Fundamentals check: earnings, services and chips

Underneath the headlines, Apple’s core fundamentals remain strong:

In its most recent quarter (reported 30 October 2025), Apple posted revenue of about $102.5 billion, up 8% year‑on‑year, and EPS of $1.85, ahead of expectations. ^[34]
iPhone revenue grew ~6%, Mac revenue nearly 13%, and Services jumped over 15%, reaching an all‑time high. ^[35]
Greater China was the only major region to decline in that quarter—making today’s October smartphone data look especially reassuring for bulls. ^[36]

On the supply‑chain / chip side, recent reports (from late last week) suggest Apple has secured a large share of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s most advanced chip capacity, which should help it stay on the leading edge of performance and efficiency for future iPhones and Macs. ^[37]

How Wall Street currently views AAPL

Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive, but not euphoric:

TipRanks data from the last three months show a 12‑month average price target around $291.14 for Apple. Using the latest ~$267.46 share price, that implies roughly 9% upside over the next year. ^[38]
That average is based on 35 Wall Street analysts, reflecting a mix of buy and hold ratings, with relatively few outright “sell” calls. ^[39]

In short, analysts still see Apple as a high‑quality compounder with modest upside, not a deep value opportunity. Upside revisions from here will likely depend on:

Stronger‑than‑expected iPhone 17 cycle, especially in China and India. ^[40]
Acceleration in high‑margin Services revenue. ^[41]
A more convincing AI roadmap that reassures markets Apple can compete with AI‑heavy peers. ^[42]

Key risks and catalysts to watch after today

For investors tracking Apple stock into the rest of the week and the months ahead, today’s news flow highlights several watch‑list items:

1. China smartphone momentum vs. Huawei comeback

Counterpoint’s October data are bullish for Apple, but Huawei’s Mate 80 launch on 25 November could test that strength. ^[43]

2. India growth normalization

Slower but still‑robust growth (18% on a big base) means India is likely to remain a growth driver, just not the explosive one it was at smaller scale. ^[44]

3. Leadership and design turnover

Markets will watch for any formal announcement on Tim Cook’s succession and whether investors embrace John Ternus as a steady‑hand choice.
Ongoing design‑team churn—including the departure of Abidur Chowdhury—could influence Apple’s product differentiation at the margin. ^[45]

4. AI partnerships, regulation and litigation

Musk’s antitrust case and the ChatGPT–Grok drama highlight regulatory and partnership risk in Apple’s AI strategy, just as investors are demanding more clarity on generative AI across Big Tech. ^[46]

5. Valuation vs. Buffett’s exit

Berkshire’s heavy trimming of its Apple stake, and its redeployment into Alphabet, keeps pressure on Apple to prove it can grow into its premium multiple. ^[47]

Bottom line for 18 November 2025

Heading into today’s U.S. session, Apple stock sits near $267 per share, just shy of all‑time highs and valued at roughly $4 trillion. ^[48]

The near‑term narrative is mixed but leaning constructive:

Bullish: Strong iPhone 17 data in China, record Services, resilient cash generation, and still‑supportive Wall Street targets. ^[49]
Bearish / cautious: Premium valuation, Buffett’s ongoing trimming, slowing percentage growth in India, AI strategy questions, and leadership turnover risk. ^[50]

For traders and longer‑term investors alike, today’s China data plus the Buffett rotation and CEO‑succession chatterare likely to be the main drivers of how AAPL trades on 18 November and how sentiment evolves into year‑end.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational and news purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.

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