Ticker Reports for August 12th
Apple & Trump: $100B Investment, Tariffs News Push Shares Up 13%
American technology stalwart Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) just made headlines, with President Trump's influence and decision-making playing a key role in the stock's story. Below, we’ll detail two key pieces of news and explain why they are leading Apple shares higher.
Apple Adds a Fresh $100 Billion Investment to Trump Appeasement Policy
In February, Apple announced it would make a massive $500 billion investment in the United States over the next four years. On Aug. 6, the Magnificent Seven company upped the ante, committing an additional $100 billion investment to its home country. This move comes amid President Trump’s unwavering stance that he wants to see iPhones built in America.
Trump reiterated this stance in a joint press conference with Apple CEO Tim Cook to announce the new investment. He called the investment “a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America."
Cook did not parrot this notion.
The economic advantage of producing iPhones overseas makes this unlikely. Analysts have estimated that producing an iPhone in the United States could bring its price to $3,500. That’s nearly triple the cost of the company’s most expensive iPhone 16 Pro Max model today, which retails for $1,199.
This price increase would massively deteriorate Apple’s competitive positioning in the smartphone market. It is certainly not something investors should hope for.
That’s part of the reason that markets are happy about the company’s latest U.S. investment.
Trump has ramped up tariff pressure on Apple to get the firm to move iPhone manufacturing to the United States. With the latest investment, the company is garnering goodwill from the President, which can help it stay out of his tariff crosshairs.
In the same press conference, Trump floated a 100% tariff on semiconductor imports. However, he said that companies that invest in America, like Apple, would be exempt from such regulations.
Apple is playing ball with the President to protect its interests, and thus those of its shareholders.
India Hit With 50% Tariffs, But Apple Avoids Catching a Stray
Additionally, on Aug. 6, Trump declared that he would raise India's tariff to 50%, starting 21 days after Aug. 7. This change is a response to India's continued oil imports from Russia.
Initially, this appeared highly relevant to Apple. The company has moved much of its production for U.S.-sold iPhones to India, partly to avoid U.S. tariffs imposed on its traditional manufacturing hub, China. It reportedly hopes to move most of this production to India by the end of 2026.
Higher tariffs on India would severely limit the company’s ambitions to avoid higher costs. However, further reports revealed that smartphones would be exempt from Indian tariffs.
Apple won’t have to pay tariffs on Indian-made iPhones at all. It’s not unreasonable to think that the company’s $100 billion investment contributed to Trump’s exemption decision.
Overall, Apple’s U.S. investments are helping it avoid tariffs in more ways than one: both on country and product-specific levies.
Apple Stock Gets a Flurry of Positive Sentiment, But AI Remains a Key Question Mark
Ultimately, these pieces of news led to Apple stock having one of its best weeks in quite a while. From Aug. 4 to Aug. 8, shares gained by more than 13%.
Trump's tirade against the company has been one of the key factors weighing on Apple in 2025, with shares still down significantly on the year.
Thus, it is only fitting that positive developments related to President Trump have resulted in positive price action. These news items are clearly good signs for Apple, indicating that the company could face less pressure from Trump going forward.
Still, whether Apple can truly return to being a winner for stock market investors remains up in the air. The company has been extensively criticized for making underwhelming moves in artificial intelligence (AI).
Markets want to see something change in the company's approach so that Apple can prove that it isn’t missing the boat on AI.
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Oklo's Stock Is Set up for a Correction—Buy It When It Bounces
Oklo’s (NYSE: OKLO) stock is poised for a correction in mid-Q3 because its explosive stock price increase attracted a fair number of short sellers, and the Q2 earnings release did not accelerate the timeline. The release was good, chock full of juicy news to keep investors interested, but no concrete changes or improvements to the revenue timeline.
The takeaway is that this leading, advanced reactor company is well-positioned to deliver on its promise, with projects advancing, but no catalyst for higher share prices has emerged.
In this scenario, the market could fall as much as 20% from the pre-release closing price before it begins to rebound, but when it does, it will be a screaming buy.
Oklo is the leader in advanced, fast-reactor technology within the energy sector and is on track to commence operations within only a few years. Its vertically integrated model encompasses fuel, power, and adjacent isotope markets, offering a diversified income stream and cost efficiencies unmatched by any other advanced reactor company.
Critical highlights from the quarter include the Trump administration's numerous executive orders, which clear red tape, streamline and accelerate approval processes, and provide tax credits and funding for start-up projects. Among the impacts of the orders is the potential for a technology-proving pilot project to come online as soon as July 2026, years ahead of the existing timeline.
Other critical highlights include partnerships with Vertiv, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Centrus that expand and deepen the company’s industry appeal while prepping future revenue streams.
The Analysts' Trends Provide Support for the Oklo Stock Price
The initial analysts’ response to Oklo’s news is crickets; MarketBeat tracked no notes or revisions within the first 18 hours of the release. This is good news because the trends leading into the release were bullish, providing support for this market.
The trends include increased coverage with the number of analysts rising by more than 200% to 13 since the first of the year, the Moderate Buy sentiment firming with several Strong Buy ratings creeping into the mix, and the price target advancing.
The consensus lags the market in mid-August but is up more than 400% in the preceding 12 months, with the high-end range aligning with recent price action. The takeaway is that the market for OKLO stock outpaced analysts' sentiment, and their targets align with a price pullback. However, the price targets should provide solid support near the $60 level if not higher, aligning with the technical support targets.
The institutional group is likely to be buyers on an OKLO stock price pullback. The group owns 85% of the stock and has been buying robustly this year, netting $2 in shares for every $1 sold. The Q3 activity shows buying ramping to a multiquarter high in the first half of Q3, an indication of increased demand and market support.
Short-Interest Caps Gains in Oklo Stock in Q3
While the long-term outlook for OKLO stock is bullish, the high and rising short-interest suggests the top is in for Q3 and potentially the remainder of the year. The short interest has been growing over the past few months and is running near 15% as of late July, and will likely remain high if not increase as the quarter progresses. The catalyst to cover will be a concrete improvement in the timeline to revenue, which could come at any time but may not materialize for several quarters.
The post-release price action was tepid; however, the market fell more than 1% suggesting it is ready to move lower. The critical near-term support is near the $69 level; a move below it will likely attract bearish activity and result in a more profound decline.
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Alphabet Reclaims $200 Threshold—Bull Run Reignited?
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has quietly transformed what began as a shaky start to 2025 into a full-blown comeback.
The stock lagged its Magnificent Seven peers early in the year, weighed down by regulatory fears and concerns that its dominance in search and advertising was wavering.
Those worries are fading, and with them, the bears. As Alphabet leaned into its AI prowess, cloud strength, and ad resilience, its shares surged, and momentum is now firmly back.
Bullish Momentum Returns to GOOGL
The stock is officially in the green year-to-date, up 6.18% as of Monday’s close, and has rocketed 32% in the past quarter alone, including an 11.5% jump this month alone.
Most importantly, Alphabet has reclaimed the $200 level, a psychological and technical resistance point that had held it back for six months. Now sitting just under 3% from its 52-week high, Alphabet is setting itself up for a fresh breakout into uncharted territory.
Technically, this is not an overbought sprint. Alphabet is still building its base, not blowing past resistance like many red-hot tech peers. The clean push through $200 after building weeks of momentum below it suggests more upside could be ahead, as long as the rally remains contained and measured.
Earnings Spark Most Recent Rally
Alphabet’s compelling Q2 2025 earnings, released on July 23, are at the heart of the rebound. Total revenue of $96.43 billion beat expectations and reflected a substantial 14% year-over-year gain. Earnings per share came in at $2.31, well above consensus and up 22% YOY.
Key growth came from advertising, cloud, and search. Google Cloud soared 32% to $13.62 billion, crossing the $50 billion annual run rate landmark.
YouTube ad revenue climbed 13%, and, perhaps most importantly, Google Search & Other grew 11.7%, well above the 8% expected, helping to quiet concerns about AI disrupting Alphabet’s core business.
These results weren’t ignored. Following the blowout quarter, a wave of analysts raised their price targets. Barclays lifted its target to $235 from $220, and JPMorgan increased it to $232 from $200. Multiple other firms followed suit.
Institutional money also started flowing back in. Cathie Wood’s ARKW recently added $35 million in Alphabet shares. Zooming out, over the previous twelve months, institutions have been busy buying shares of the tech giant. In total, $96 billion worth of GOOGL has been purchased versus $52 billion in outflows over the previous year.
Valuation and Entry Perspective
Despite the surge in momentum, GOOGL still looks reasonably priced. Its current P/E is around 21.4, and its forward P/E of 18.9 remains well below its historical standards. So even after a 32% quarterly move, Alphabet isn’t trading at a tech bubble multiple, making the risk-reward picture more compelling for disciplined investors.
For those anticipating more upside, a logical entry could be on a pullback toward key support zones near $190 or even $180, where resistance was overturned earlier in the year.
If Alphabet can reclaim a clean stair-step pattern above $200, reinforced by analyst upgrades and institutional faith, it could quietly morph into one of this year’s strongest major-cap tech stories.
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