An Apple a day keeps the bears away

If you’re excited about Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone, you might want to start saving now.

Apple is reportedly preparing to raise prices across its product lineup as the cost of key memory and storage chips continues to climb. According to research firm TechInsights, those increases could add roughly $270 to the price tag of Apple’s next iPhone Pro model.

The culprit is, of course, AI. As tech giants pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, demand for memory and storage chips has surged. That has left manufacturers of everything from cars to consumer electronics and medical devices struggling to compete for the same supply, driving prices for some components up fourfold since last year.

While that’s bad news for consumers, it’s great news for memory stocks. Shares of Micron rose 8.7% to another record high today, while overseas rivals Samsung and SK Hynix also climbed 4.62% and 6.51%, respectively, as investors bet that AI demand will keep driving memory prices higher.

Made in America

Micron wasn’t the only company getting a boost from Apple. Intel jumped 10.64% after President Trump announced that Apple has agreed to partner with the chipmaker to design and manufacture chips in the US, formalizing a preliminary agreement reached last month.

The deal is the latest step in Washington’s effort to rebuild domestic semiconductor production, following the government’s $8 billion purchase of a 9.9% stake in Intel last August that’s now worth roughly $60 billion.

The bull case

Intel shares are up 263.12% this year, and a new deal with one of the biggest names in tech could give them more room to run. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Apple’s push into US manufacturing could create a major opportunity for Intel as the AI-driven device-upgrade cycle ramps up.

The company also recently began trial production of its new 18A-P manufacturing process, which offers improved performance and power efficiency over its standard 18A technology, and could help attract more customers. Analysts at Counterpoint Research believe Apple could test the production process for its application to future Mac and iPad chips, potentially giving Intel a foothold in a business long dominated by TSMC.—SY