Apple hits record high as Bernstein calls it AI safe haven

Apple shares reached an all-time high on Thursday, November 12, after Bernstein analyst Mark Newman described the iPhone maker as a "safe haven" for investors pulling out of riskier artificial intelligence stocks. The stock touched its intraday record in the morning session, then gave back part of the gain and traded close to flat. The record came on a rough day for AI stocks. Nvidia ↘ 5.80% fell sharply after Jensen Huang resigned as CEO.investors.com+1

Bernstein's Case

In a client note, Newman said Apple "has been growing in appeal as a safe haven from higher flying/higher risk AI stocks," and added that "AAPL has benefited from the recent AI sell-off, driving its PE to all-time high levels". Bernstein kept its Outperform rating and $380 price target. It noted that Apple's capital spending is only about 2% of revenue, because Apple works with Google Alphabet Inc. ↗ 2.03% on its foundation models and runs many Siri AI models on the device itself. According to the firm, that leaves Apple protected from a pullback in data center spending and from the shrinking free cash flow at cloud giants. Apple could even gain "if/when the AI bubble actually bursts," for example through cheap acquisitions.sg.finance.yahoo.com+2

Apple now trades at about 37 times expected 2027 earnings, which is a record. Bernstein said that among large U.S. companies expected to grow earnings by less than 15%, only Apple, Costco, Walmart ↗ 0.03% and GE trade above 30 times forward earnings. "Is AAPL's multiple outrageous? Considering its customer loyalty, earnings durability, growth, FCF generation and shareholder returns, we don't think so," Newman wrote.sg.finance.yahoo.com

Nvidia Turmoil Shakes AI Trade

Nvidia named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO after Huang stepped down. His resignation followed reports of an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese government agent and a second relationship with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. Nvidia's shares plunged more than 13% at the open. They had already lost about $2 trillion in market value since peaking in early October. Tech was the worst-performing S&P 500 ↘ 0.40% sector Thursday, and Nebius ↘ 18.07% and CoreWeave ↘ 8.00% also fell.apnews.com+2

Pricing Power and Product Push

The rally comes during a busy stretch of product launches, including the iPhone 18 Pro series, the foldable iPhone Duo and new Macs. Apple's HomeView smart-home hub goes on sale Friday. Apple recently climbed back above a $5 trillion market value and raised $7.5 billion in a bond sale meant in part to fund share buybacks. Citing UBS ↘ 1.62% data, CNBC reported that iPhone revenue could rise 12% this holiday quarter even as unit sales fall 3%, driven by higher prices. Analysts at TradingKey cautioned that a record valuation means Apple must keep delivering on upgrade demand, services growth and buybacks rather than relying on "safe-haven inflows to continuously lift multiples".benzinga.com+2