key market China – Apple shares rose nearly 2% on Friday after upbeat forecasts for a lucrative holiday quarter suggested the latest iPhone 17 models are driving a sales surge despite shipping delays in key market China. While supply constraints impacted sales in the fourth quarter, investors remained optimistic as the launch of the new iPhone lineup in September helped Apple shares surpass $4 trillion in market capitalization earlier this week, joining Nvidia and Microsoft.

The outlook also helped allay concerns about Apple being slow on the integration of some long-awaited artificial intelligence features, while other tech majors are leading the way. Eric Clark, chief investment officer at Acuvest, said, “All I know is that I’ve owned this stock for decades.

When you’re really big like Apple, you don’t need to move fast, sometimes you just have to get it right. ” Shares of Amazon and Apple are still the year’s worst performers among MagCap’s so-called “Magnificent Seven” group, although the e-commerce giant’s stock rose before the bell on Friday due to stellar cloud growth in the quarter. According to LSEG data, Apple’s stock trades at 33.

4 times analysts’ profit expectations, representing a premium to Microsoft’s 31. 7 and Meta Platform’s 22.

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