Apple is ready to pony up another $100 billion to appease President Donald Trump . Jim Cramer says it was a necessary evil. Wall Street agreed, and the struggling stock rallied. The news Shares of Apple jumped nearly 6% on Wednesday after a White House official confirmed to CNBC that the tech giant will raise its investment in United States manufacturing by another $100 billion to a total of $600 billion over the next four years. The pledge includes details about what the White House calls a new American Manufacturing Program, which should bring more of Apple’s supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the U.S. Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to be at the White House on Wednesday when the president makes the announcement at 4:30 p.m. ET. Apple declined CNBC’s request for comment. Big picture The new Apple commitment follows Trump’s repeated demands to bring iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. Back in May, the president even threatened a 25% additional tariff on every smartphone made outside the country. Most iPhones are still in China, which has been locked in trade talks with the U.S. to avoid steep tariffs. Apple has moved some of its production to India. But on Wednesday, Trump raised tariffs on India to 50% over Russian oil purchases. Cook has said Apple will use iPhone supplies from India to service the U.S. market, and those made in China for the rest of the world. The question is whether Apple’s additional $100 billion U.S. manufacturing investment will come with long-term relief from these high tariffs? For now, it looks like an electronics tariff exemption from earlier this year, which includes Apple products, remains in effect. AAPL .SPX YTD mountain Apple vs. S & P 500 YTD Either way, the big move higher in Apple stock was a step in the right direction. Shares have been out of favor this year, still down more than 14% in 2025 versus the S & P 500’s more than 7% advance. Wall Street has not only worried about the impact of tariffs on Apple’s bottom line, but the company’s staggered rollout of its AI offerings, too. Apple also faces significant legal challenges: a Justice Department antitrust case against Alphabet that threatens billions of dollars in annual payments for Google search priority, and a years-long legal battle with Epic Games over App Store commissions. Last week, Apple reported a killer quarter , which bought the company and the stock more time to clarify its AI strategy and deal with the looming legal and tariff headwinds. As we wrote after the release, “The strong performance comes even as Apple saw a roughly $800 million drag due to tariff-related costs. That was $100 million less than Apple CEO Tim Cook had estimated back in May. On [last] Thursday evening’s post-earnings call, Cook projected a $1.1 billion negative effect from tariffs in the September quarter, assuming no changes.” That “assuming no changes” part has been the wildcard since Trump started all the tariffs talk. Bottom line Jim has been saying for months and months that Apple must get right with Trump, who does not seem to care about the company’s previous commitment or the two dozen factories that Apple had already planned to open. “Let’s say if they were trying to build a complete supply chain to make iPhones here, I think they’d have to spend $500 billion. They’d just have to recreate the entire thing, and what the president is going to say is, ‘Listen, I know you don’t want to do it, but we want it. Pay us another $100 billion,'” Jim said, calling the new $100 billion a real pledge. “I don’t want to sell Apple,” he added. We’re reiterating the revival of our “own it, don’t trade it” Apple thesis. As Jim put it earlier in the summer , Apple still makes “the greatest product in the world,” and he will support the company and Cook. We’re still watching Apple as indicated by our hold-equivalent 2 rating, with a price target of $240. Apple’s record-high close of $259 was back on Dec. 26. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Apple surges on a new $100 billion U.S. investment. What Cramer thinks about stock
