Top 20 US Stocks by Trading Volume: Apple Plunges over 9%, Tariffs May Drive up iPhone Prices

 

Delivery information released by Tesla shows that the company's global deliveries in the first quarter of this year were 336,700 units, a 13% decrease compared to the same period last year, and lower than the market-expected 390,000 units, reaching the lowest quarterly delivery volume since the second quarter of 2022.

According to data released by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) on Thursday, Tesla's sales in March plummeted 42.5% year-on-year to 2,229 units, and its first-quarter sales dropped 62.2% year-on-year to 4,935 units.

 

Meanwhile, the demand for electric vehicles in the German market is still growing steadily. According to KBA data, the number of newly registered electric vehicles in March increased by 35.3% overall. Goldman Sachs lowered Tesla's target price from $320 to $275.

The second-ranked Nvidia saw its share price close down 7.81% with a trading volume of $34.625 billion. As of the close on Thursday, Nvidia's year-to-date decline has reached 24.2%.

 

HSBC downgraded Nvidia's rating to "Hold". Brad Gerstner, the CEO of Altimeter Capital, said on Thursday that he expects Nvidia to be able to withstand Trump's extensive tariffs. As Nvidia's GPUs drive the artificial intelligence boom, "GPU demand has broken records."

 

Gerstner said that an important reason why Nvidia may be more capable of withstanding Trump's tariff hikes is that semiconductors are on the exception list, which is a "wise exception". Gerstner is worried that tariffs may lead to a recession, but he is relatively optimistic about Nvidia and said that "the negative impact of tariffs will be much smaller than in other areas."

 

Analysts said that Trump's tariffs could significantly change the global trade pattern, and consumer goods such as the iPhone could be among the hardest-hit products. If Apple passes on the costs to consumers, the price will increase by 30% to 40%. Currently, the cheapest iPhone 16 launched in the US is priced at $799.

 

However, according to the calculation of analysts from Rosenblatt Securities, if Apple transfers the costs to consumers, its price may increase by 43%, reaching as high as $1,142. The more expensive iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.9-inch screen + 1TB storage) is currently sold at a retail price of $1,599, and the price may be close to $2,300 after the cost is passed on.

 

The US plans to impose an additional 34% reciprocal tariff on imported goods from China, and the comprehensive tax rate will climb to 54% when combined with the existing tax rate. This tax policy may impact the Asian manufacturing system, which is the core of Apple's global supply chain, especially affecting its capacity allocation ability that relies on Chinese factories.

 

It is worth noting that the coverage of this tariff has extended to Apple's supply chain network in emerging manufacturing bases such as India and Vietnam, undermining the strategic effectiveness of Apple's diversified industrial chain layout. Although about 70% of iPhones are still finally assembled in China, its global multi-center production structure is facing new challenges-as key components need to be purchased from multiple countries and regions affected by tariffs, there is a risk of superimposed increase in supply chain costs.

 

Bank of America Securities lowered the target stock price of Apple from $265 per share to $250.

Meta Platforms, ranked fourth, closed down 8.96% with a trading volume of $18.356 billion. It is reported that Zuckerberg lobbied the US President on Wednesday, persuading the latter not to conduct antitrust reviews on Meta Platforms. Zuckerberg and representatives of Meta have discussed relevant settlement plans with the White House. Since January 20 (the day Trump took office), Zuckerberg has visited the White House three times.

Microsoft, ranked sixth, closed down 2.36% with a trading volume of $11.246 billion. According to a report citing informed sources on Thursday morning, Microsoft has suspended its data center construction plans in the UK, Australia, Illinois, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. This is another strategic adjustment by the technology giant after cutting the Dutch project last month.

 

Citi analysts pointed out: "This reflects the diminishing marginal benefit of the ultra-large-scale construction model, and enterprises are more inclined to 'precise computing power investment'." It is worth noting that Microsoft just announced last month that it will invest $2.9 billion in Japan over the next five years to expand its data center, and the regional selection is obviously shifting to Asia-Pacific.

 

The news shows that the two sides are close to reaching a final agreement. Although Google is already one of Nvidia's largest purchasers, obtaining more cutting-edge computing power through third-party channels reflects the extreme eagerness of technology giants for computing resources in the AI competition.

 

Another report said that as the competition shifts from developing advanced models to improving artificial intelligence products, Google is making leadership changes in its artificial intelligence department. Sissie Hsiao, who led the development of Google's AI chatbot, has resigned, and Josh Woodward, the head of Google Labs responsible for launching NotebookLM, will take over while continuing to serve in his current position.

Broadcom, ranked ninth, closed down 10.51% with a trading volume of $6.939 billion. Broadcom has increased the minimum license requirements for VMware from 16 cores to 72 cores, which means that Broadcom has significantly raised the minimum license requirements for VMware.

 

According to Arrow, a VMware distributor, the minimum number of cores required per command line will increase from 16 to 72 starting from April 10. According to a report by The Register, the French branch of Arrow has sent an email to VMware partners, informing them of the significant price increase.

 

This will have a significant impact, especially on smaller customers. A company with a server containing only one 8-core processor will soon have to pay for a 72-core processor, which means they will pay for 64 cores that they cannot use. This change is consistent with Broadcom's practice of focusing on larger and more profitable customers.

 

Small customers using vSphere Foundation and vSphere Enterprise Plus for basic virtualization services will be hit the hardest. For users of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), the impact will be limited because they usually use far more than 72 cores in a private cloud environment.

Intel, ranked 11th, closed up 2.05% with a trading volume of $5.364 billion. It is reported that executives from Intel and TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture to operate Intel's chip manufacturing plants. The report cited unnamed informed sources as saying that Intel and other US chip manufacturers will hold a majority stake in the joint venture, including at least some of Intel's plants.

TSMC, ranked 14th, closed down 7.64% with a trading volume of $4.506 billion. It is reported that Intel and TSMC have initially agreed to form a chip-manufacturing joint venture, and TSMC will hold a 20% stake in the new company.

Bank of America, ranked 16th, closed down 11.06% with a trading volume of $4.292 billion. The US banking sector generally declined on Thursday. Analysts pointed out that the uncertainty brought about by Trump's tariffs has suppressed trading and capital market activities. It is expected that investment banks will be hit, and the decline in consumer confidence may also suppress spending and loan demand.

 

The White House announced that starting from April 5, all imported goods will face a 10% baseline tariff. On April 9, about 60 countries will face higher tax rates. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff, and Indonesia will face a 32% tariff. 44% of Nike's products are sourced from Vietnam, and 21% are from Indonesia.

 

Telsey Advisory Group analyst Feldman said: "The tariffs proposed by President Trump are more radical than what many people expected. Many retail companies thought they could avoid them for a while, but obviously, they are now re-examining everything."

 

Before the tariff announcement on Wednesday, Nike expected that tariffs would only affect its profit margin in the fourth quarter. The company's CFO said on the earnings call: "We expect the gross margin in the fourth quarter to decline by about 400 to 500 basis points, including the restructuring costs in the same period last year." However, according to the estimate of analysts from Stifel, Trump's tariffs may reduce Nike's earnings per share by $1.69 this year.$AVGO $NKE $AAPL $TSLA $NVDA