Apple: Key Bank says sell
Apple fell about 1.2% at the open, trading near its all-time high. Key Bank moved the stock to underweight and set a $250 price target, seeing roughly 20% downside from recent levels. This is a contrarian call. Apple is one of the most widely covered stocks on Wall Street, and this view goes against most analysts. Even with the pullback, Apple is up double digits this year, about 16%, and more than an outperformer inside a MAG7 group that has otherwise lagged.
The worry is stretched expectations tied to the iPhone cycle and AI that may be hard to meet. Key Bank expects slowing hardware demand. Higher iPhone prices could push people to upgrade less often, stretching the replacement cycle past the usual two years. Demand for Macs, iPads, and wearables looks weaker too. At current prices, the higher cost may no longer justify a refresh. Carriers, which often pay down part of the cost of a new phone, are seen pulling back from heavily subsidizing premium smartphones, which would slow upgrades further.
Fewer device upgrades feed into slower services growth. Key Bank expects services growth to fall to single digits by fiscal 2027, at about 7% for that year. Valuation is a further concern. The early-trade pressure was mild.
Nvidia: target raised to $330
Nvidia is up on the year but down about 13% from its highs, which it hasn't touched since around mid-year. Its Rubin platform faces a slight delay. Key Bank says the cause has been resolved and raised its price target to $330, keeping an overweight rating. On a year-over-year basis the stock is up more than 20%.
Shares have struggled around the $200 level, bumping against it and holding just above it, with a slim gain in early action. Key Bank calls the Rubin issue a modest delay, not a speed bump investors need to fear, given Nvidia's best-in-class position in the AI chip arms race. Production will ramp, so financial estimates are not seen as affected. Nvidia will ship more of its Blackwell chips while Rubin production comes online, so the demand story stays strong. Asia supply-chain checks came in stronger than expected and showed stronger-than-expected demand.
SpaceX: Evercore starts at outperform
SpaceX rose about 1.8% at the open after Evercore ISI began coverage with an outperform rating and a $230 price target, near $90 above the roughly $142 share price. That target sits slightly below the average, and it lines up with most coverage so far, which has been bullish.
The stock has been volatile. After a flashy debut it made a round trip back to its IPO price and has fallen over the past week from its post-IPO high, drawing questions about valuation and execution. Evercore calls the pullback a buying opportunity and describes SpaceX as an extraordinary company on a real path to reshaping the future of humanity. The bull case rests on a vertically integrated ecosystem spanning satellite broadband, launch, AI infrastructure, and communications. Open questions remain: how long the buildout takes, and how to size a total addressable market when space is still early.
