Bart Yee on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'Neal, I agree with you, there is a lot of trial ballooning here from Altman’s side, floating the idea that he and OpenAI are disappointed with what Apple said they would do, contracted to do, and what did / didn’t happen. But IMO, Altman should understand that at the time this contract was signed, there was little to base consumer interest, monetization, and usage from any individual mobile users, IOS or Android, Windows, Chrime or Mac, and IMO, certainly no guarantees given as to revenue, subscriptions or usage patterns. Altman of all people should also realize that in 2024 thru today, AI and chatbots have been rapidly evolving, with many twists, turns, U-turns, abandonment, and competitive improvements so as to render any certainty rather speculative and in some cases, moot. I rather doubt there was any exclusivity clause, nor specific performance or revenue guarantees. And considering OpenAI’s financial condition and funding burn, IMO, Apple’s got more lawyers than they have solvency.'
on Premarket: Apple is green - 'The DJIA back above 50K! The S&P 500 sets new records and closes above 7,500 for the first time! Apple takes a breather and closes down $0.66 at $298.21 after setting new records yesterday. In general, it was a good day for the markets and a good day for Americans that choose to invest in our nation’s financial systems!'
on Premarket: Apple is green - '33 M AAPL shares traded today by 3:15 Pm PDT vs an average of 43.8 M. So yes, low volume day, and Max Pain consequently exerting it’s magnetic personality early.'
on Apple at $300: Why now? - 'Thank you for the history lesson RPL. I hadn’t heard of San Francisco Canyon Company before, which is especially funny since I worked on QuickTime for a few years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company Microsoft was so greasy back then.'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'Probably the same argument the EU is using against Google for opening Android to other AI vendors. I commented on that in another thread. But of course, until we see the actual filing, who knows what “creative advocacy” OpenAI’s lawyers will extract from their nether regions.'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'If you are Tim Cook and go, you get access and influence. If you don’t go, you incur the wrath of the current president, lose access and get on the naughty list which can mean further investigations by the Justice Department as well as other agencies. Seems like the right decision is to go in terms of protecting the company and its interests. Just because you go, doesn’t mean that Tim Cook has to agree with Trump. Sometimes, having access and maybe some influence may help Trump make a better decision. One can always hope.'
on Evercore raises Apple target $35 to $365 - 'This is my second post in response to Amit’s PT upgrade. In my first post I incorrectly based my comments on an incorrect reading of Amit’s upgrade. I used $335 vs the correct reading of $365. I think Amit’s new price is good, although i think it remains conservative. AAPL’s 16 year average growth rate has been ~25%. Amit’s target represents a gain of ~21%. AAPL has grown since April 1, 2025 (just before Trump’s attacks on US institutions, trading partners and allies began) by ~26%. This is consistent with AAPL’s historical growth rate of the past 16 years (~25%) despite all the negativity of WS and the media over Apple’s alleged lack of an “AI” strategy. Going into 2027 Apple has already introduced compelling new products (MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e) that are reshaping the competition environment with Windows and Android powered hardware in Apple’s favor. Apple’s “missing AI” strategy has emerged, with WS and the media stumbling all over themselves reversing their previous negativity, going so far as to declare Apple the winner of the “AI”. Also during the past year Apple has acquired all US streaming rights to FIA (Formula One racing), and released a highly successful F-1 movie, and won an Academy award. AppleTV is no longer a nuclear streaming movies provider, it is challenging the leaders for dominance. In the last 2 fiscal quarters Apple has reported sequential 22% YoY revenue growth results, and guided more of the same for the June quarter. The rate may slow in the December quarter, but, IMO, not by much. Despite me not seeing the utility in “AI”, the rest of the world does. Importantly, Apple is positioned in both hardware (silicon) and software (OSX and its offspring) to dominate. Then there is the continued move towards “AI” integration in Apple products with iPhone 18 and Macs (especially Mac Mini and Mac Studio). Last but not least I believe a major (and very promising) announcement regarding SpatialOS and Apple Vision Pro will occur at WWDC. Remember, the historic growth rate of AAPL is ~25%. There were lower growth periods, and higher growth periods. I believe the next year is going to be a higher growth period. A 30% growth period from today would take AAPL up to Ive’s $400 target. More importantly, I think Apple has begun a multi-year run. In two tears I see AAPL @ $500.'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'Now that Ternus is taking over day to day operations this is exactly where Tim needs to be, if only to do damage control. When I worked in Asia I recall that lieutenants on both sides were always on edge during meetings like these. No telling what trouble the high level guys could cause.'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'I am uncomfortable with Tim’s appearance at Trump events. It’s queasy. Especially when he appears to obligingly do the “Trump Thumbs” in photo-shoots etc, as he did with the other CEO’s yesterday. It makes it look complicit and not distanced. So he appears hypocritical. What I do know, is that we don’t know jack. And what is for sure, is that often, he is on that plane or in that room because “the other side” wants him there. So Tim Apple may have been there because the Chinese trust him. Not because Trump trusts him. Jensen joined at the last minute after attempting to bail, but was on AF1 and in the photo-op like everyone else. He was there because everyone is concerned that Trump will sell the farm to Xi (and rat out South Korea) for some exchange he benefits from but which is disaster to the businesses and the regions stability, So maybe people from the Global side wanted these guys in the room to modulate issues. And he will extract concessions and favorable trading terms and conditions from both sides… he’s there to do business, not politics after all. But it don’t look nice. Not one bit. And a lot of people are rightly furious and questioning it. I have no issue with that.'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'I completely agree. Well put. Although I hate the fact that he is there with the president, he has no choice but to go, for the good of his company and shareholders. American politicians should be ashamed of themselves for squandering the lead they had and for not thinking of the good of the country.'
on Apple at $300: Why now? - 'Yes – I did a small sale at $298.80 on Wed while I was sleeping. Was pleasantly surprised when I awoke and saw the price had spiked os quickly'
on Blowback from Tim Cook's presence in Trump's China entourage - 'Yawn. It looks and reads like a cut-and-paste from any of the other “Apple and Tim Cook are the worst!!” opinion pieces over the last few years, rehashing the same tired points and ignoring of course the massive false equivalence in the behaviour of Tim Cook vs Elon Musk and the rest of the gang that hovers around Trump. That an ex Cabinet member, who obviously has a grasp of who Trump is and how he operates, refuses to acknowledge that it’s a command attendance for someone like Cook to attend events says it all. It’s completely laughable that someone who is as objectively intelligent as Robert Reich insists on pretending that Tim Cook and Apple are responsible for building China’s tech capacity, without at the very least pointing to successive generations of American political leaders from the local to the federal level completely squandering their lead and opportunity by doing all they could to dumb down public education and crush STEM training and opportunities. On the other hand, China’s leadership made it all a very long-term priority, decades ago, and continues to push as hard and fast on supporting and expanding it. Simply put, US leadership completely screwed up. And continues to. As have most of the other western nations. And the current guy in the White House is doing more damage more quickly than anyone before him.'
