synopsis

Analyst Craig Moffett said Apple's supply chain will still be anchored in China, given that most iPhone components are still made in that country.

Apple, Inc. (AAPL), which finds itself in the middle of the U.S.-China trade tensions, may not be able to achieve a complete workaround by shifting its entire U.S.-bound  iPhone manufacturing to India, according to an analyst.

CNBC reported that MoffettNathanson Partner and Senior Managing Director Craig Moffett said, "You have a tremendous menu of problems created by tariffs, and moving to India doesn't solve all the problems."

"Now granted, it helps to some degree."

A Financial Times report said last week that Apple plans to source all of the iPhones it sells in the U.S. from India by the end of 2026.

Moffett said Apple's supply chain will still be anchored in China, as most iPhone components will still be made there.

The analyst said, "The bottom line is a global trade war is a two-front battle, impacting costs and sales." While moving assembling to India may help with costs, he added that sales may become a bigger issue.

The analyst noted that local competitors such as Vivo and Huwaei will likely gain at Apple's expense.

Moffett said his concern about Apple was about the stock's valuation and not much about the company per se. He said, "They still have a great balance sheet [and] a great consumer franchise."

"It's just the reality of there are no good answers when you are a product company, and your products are going to be significantly tariffed, and you're heading into a market that is likely to have at least some deceleration in consumer demand because of the macroeconomy."

Also, Moffett noted Apple was not getting help from its carriers to offset the tariff impact. He referred to comments from carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile that they wouldn't underwrite the additional handset costs from tariffs.

MoffettNathanson has a 'Sell' rating on the Apple stock and a price target of $141 — the lowest on Wall Street — after it cut it from $184 last week. 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Apple stock stayed 'bullish' (57/100), although the message volume was 'low.'

AAPL sentiment and message volume as of 2:33 a.m. ET, April 28 | source: Stocktwits

A watcher said they were bullish on the Apple stock ahead of Thursday's second-quarter print.

Another user said they expect the stock to trade back at $230 in a few weeks.

Apple ended Friday's session up 0.44% at $209.28 but is down over 16% this year.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<