Apple has unshackled itself from the Nasdaq. What's good for investors in the midst of the software apocalypse?

Quotes of Apple stopped moving in unison with the technology sector, demonstrating an independence not seen since the mid-2000s. For investors, the securities of the iPhone manufacturer became a "safe haven", allowing them to wait out the panic on the stock market due to the fact that artificial intelligence threatens to destroy traditional business models of software suppliers.

According to Bloomberg, the 40-day correlation between Apple shares and the Nasdaq 100 index collapsed to 0.21 last week, the lowest since 2006. Back in May 2025, the figure was 0.92, marking a nearly synchronized move with the benchmark. But the iPhone maker's decision to stay out of the aggressive AI arms race has set it apart from other tech giants.

Since the beginning of February, the company's securities have grown by 1.7%, while the index of technological blue chips lost 3.2%, and the index of securities of the "Magnificent Seven" technological giants, which includes Apple itself, collapsed by 7.2%, showing the worst result since March last year, according to Bloomberg.

The current lack of correlation between Apple's stock price and the technology sector is a "100 percent positive," said B. Riley Wealth chief market strategist Art Hogan. Riley Wealth's Art Hogan. He said the AI situation resembles a game of "whack a mole": investors are so nervous trying to guess whose business model will suffer next that they "shoot first and ask questions later." Even if Apple lags behind in the market recovery, its securities will not be dumped: the iPhone maker "tops the list of companies that look immune to AI," Hogan said.

Apple is now trading at a multiple of about 30 to forecast earnings, which is above the levels of the Nasdaq and the securities of the other "Magnificent Seven" companies with the exception of Tesla. Phoenix Financial Services chief market analyst Wayne Kaufman acknowledges that the company "is not a bargain and hasn't been for some time." Nevertheless, he is confident that the market will continue to trust Apple. "There are far fewer risks in hardware than in software: it's unlikely that people will be able to use AI to hoard a new iPhone," the expert summarized.

The consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts on Apple shares for the last three months remained unchanged: the securities confidently maintain an "above market" rating (Overweight), according to data from FactSet. At the same time, the sentiment of experts has become a little more positive. Over the past quarter, the number of recommendations to buy (Buy and Overweight ratings) increased from 31 to 32, and the number of skeptics advising to get rid of shares (Sell and Underweight ratings), halved from four to two. The average target price of Apple securities calculated by the service at $298 per unit suggests a potential upside of almost 13% from their current value.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor