Wall Street analysts on Apple after Trump’s iPhone tariffs threat

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Apple CEO Tim Cook attends China Development Forum 2017 – Economic Summit at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on March 18, 2017 in Beijing, China.

Apple remains under scrutiny from Wall Street as President Donald Trump’s threat of new tariffs on iPhones piled on to the stock’s recent downward spiral.

Apple shares fell 1.8 percent on Tuesday, bringing the stock’s loss since the start of November to more than 20 percent.

Trump’s threat of a 10 percent tariff on iPhones “could simply be a negotiating tactic ahead of the G20 Summit later this week,” UBS said in a note. The firm estimates that a tariff of that magnitude would represent a $1.5 billion hit to Apple’s earnings. If Trump ups the rate to 25 percent, as he’s threatened, UBS says “the impact would be ~$3.8B or ~$0.83 in EPS.”

Baird commented in a note: “When it rains it pours, Trump piles on.”

Bernstein’s Tony Sacconaghi explained Apple’s revenue stream on CNBC’S “Squawk Box,” saying that “25 percent of Apple’s revenue, call it $50 billion, would be subject to a 10 or 25 percent tariff.”

Trump insistence on escalating the trade war could provoke China to respond by targeting Apple with penalties, Sacconaghi noted.

“Could they try to disrupt Apple’s supply chain in some way? Could they not authorize new phones for sale in the country? There are many things that China could do and that could ultimately be even more devastating,” Sacconaghi said.

Here’s what major Wall Street analysts were saying about Apple.