Trump tariffs pose major challenges for Tesla and Apple according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a longtime bull on both giants. Ives slashed price targets on TSLA stock and Apple heading into the new week.
The Tesla and AAPL stock targets are still above their current share prices, but would no longer signal record highs.
Both stocks fell Monday, but closed well off lows as the major indexes closed mixed.
Tesla Stock
President Donald Trump's tariffs and an Elon Musk "brand crisis" have created a "perfect storm" for Tesla, Ives wrote in a Sunday note.
"Tesla is less exposed to tariffs than other U.S. automakers," Ives wrote, but "there will be a clear cost impact."
But tariff backlash is a greater concern for the Wedbush analyst.
"The bigger worry in our opinion is Tesla's success in China as this key region is the linchpin to the future success of Tesla," Ives added. "The backlash from Trump tariff policies in China and Musk's association will be hard to understate and this will further drive Chinese consumers to buy domestic such as BYD, Nio, Xpeng, and others."
More broadly, "Tesla has essentially become a political symbol globally," Ives said, adding that "the brand crisis tornado that has now turned into an F5 tornado."
Tesla has lost or destroyed at least 10% of its future customer base, Ives estimates, and "this could be conservative." In Europe, the figure could be 20% or more "all self-inflicted by Musk."
Musk has been a strong supporter of Trump and has been overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. There are reports that Musk will leave DOGE in the coming weeks. On Saturday, Musk said he would like a U.S.-EU free-trade zone and he also criticized White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. Those signaled a desire to show some distance from Trump on trade.
Dan Ives slashed price targets on Tesla stock price target by 43% to 315 from 550.
Tesla stock tumbled 9.15% last week to 239.25, down more than 50% from the 488.54 peak on Dec. 18. But TSLA held above its March lows.
Shares fell 2.6% to 233.29 after hitting a 2025 low intraday.
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Apple Stock
Apple's business may be hit harder than any other American tech company, according to Ives.
"The tariff economic Armageddon unleashed by Trump is a complete disaster for Apple given its massive China production exposure," Ives said. "In our view, no U.S. tech company is more negatively impacted by these tariffs than Apple with 90% of iPhones produced and assembled in China."
Apple has diversified its supply chain somewhat, Ives noted, but Trump tariffs also hit Vietnam, India and many other countries hard.
Ives cut his Apple stock price target by 23% to 250 from 325. The bear case is 160, and the bull case — which assumes tariff removal or exemption — is back to $325.
Apple stock dived 13.55% to 188.38 last week. AAPL was 28% below its Dec. 26 all-time high of 260.10 as of April 4.
Shares retreated 3.7% to 181.46, paring losses from an 11-month low.
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