Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) may have improved its relationship with the Trump administration by committing $100 billion to US manufacturing, but Wedbush analysts have warned that an “invisible AI strategy” threatens to push the tech giant into a “BlackBerry Moment” if it doesn’t move fast.
“This was a big week for Cook to play nice in the sandbox with the Trump Administration and commit to more US manufacturing investments with the $100 billion announcement,” Wedbush wrote.
“This helped removed some of the tensions between Apple and the Trump Administration and importantly, should now remove much of the tariff uncertainty with exemptions as Apple navigates a very complex China and India manufacturing process.”
The announcement, they noted, “helped lift an overhang on the stock and it's finally been a good week for Apple bulls after a frustrating year.”
Still, the analysts see a much bigger risk looming for the iPhone maker. “The elephant in the room and the black cloud over the stock is an invisible AI strategy that has essentially created a ‘Blackberry Moment’ for Cook and Cupertino,” Wedbush wrote.
“While the AI Revolution led by Big Tech is racing ahead like an F1 track in Monza focused on monetizing the biggest tech trend in the last 40 years, Apple is on a park bench drinking lemonade watching this technology innovation change the world,” they wrote.
Wedbush outlined three urgent moves Apple should make “to prove to developers and investors this will not be a melting ice cube AI strategy.”
First, they urged Apple to complete its potential Perplexity acquisition.
Wedbush said Perplexity’s AI search engine “could redefine Apple’s AI strategy and would fit in very well with Siri,” adding that “if Apple has to pay $30 billion plus its a drop in the bucket relative to the monetization opportunity Apple can achieve on AI in our view.”
Second, the firm believes Apple must bring in outside talent to the management team.
“Apple events the last few years have felt more like the movie Back to the Future then technology innovation events,” they wrote. “The current management team, including Cook, has Apple on an AI treadmill on 2.5 speed going nowhere.”
Wedbush wrote that there needs to be a leadership shakeup even if Cook remains CEO until at least 2030.
Finally, the analysts advised Apple needs to fully integrate Google’s Gemini AI into its iPhone ecosystem.
Time is not on Apple's side and they need to take some big shots now and doubling down on the Google partnership is the right move,” they wrote. “This would be the right strategic bet despite regulatory scrutiny, it's clear Gemini is the answer in our view.”
In Wedbush’s view, these steps could help Apple leverage its 2.4 billion iOS devices and 1.5 billion iPhones to catch up in the AI race.
Shares of Apple traded hands at $227 on Monday afternoon, down 9% so far in 2025.