Apple Inc.’s stock has had a rough go of it during the first half of the year. President Trump’s tariffs caused have weighed on the company, as investors continue to gauge what the full cost to its business will be.

In our opinion, any such deal … would likely be positive for shares that are currently in the penalty box given Apple is largely viewed as an AI laggard,” wrote the BofA an

Bank of America said in a recent report that buying an AI company would help Apple stock escape the penalty box. The note comes after Apple reportedly held talks to acquire Perplexity AI. Why does Apple need Perplexity?