Apple ‘s (AAPL) annual Worldwide Developers Conference, WWDC for short, kicked off Monday. Apple, the Club’s third-largest stock by weighting in the portfolio, unveiled updated software for its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. The tech giant also debuted its newest in-house M2 processor, which will initially be found in new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models. Developers who make applications across suite of Apple’s products are the primary focus of the weeklong WWDC, which includes class-like sessions on how to build on Apple’s platform. Here’s what we think members should know about Monday’s announcements, which are nice but don’t address the bigger issues driving Apple’s stock price on Wall Street. Bottom line We heard a number of incremental positives on Day 1 of WWDC, which demonstrate why we always say “own Apple, don’t trade it.” Many of the updates are exciting for consumers — but it’s important to note, we believe they’re unlikely to influence the near-term trajectory of Apple shares. Instead, what matters most right now for Apple’s stock is supply-chain challenges and a potential slowdown in App Store revenue, the latter of which was called out last week by our favorite analyst covering the name, Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty. Investors are closely monitoring those headwinds, looking for clues on how they may show up in Apple’s upcoming fiscal third-quarter earnings. As expected, we didn’t get any updates on them during the WWDC keynote product video, and Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t give CNBC reporter Steve Kovach any answers afterwards either. In late April, along with its second-quarter results, Apple said supply chain issues could contribute to between $4 billion and $8 billion in lost sales in the June quarter. The iPhone maker also said Covid lockdowns in China were weighing on demand from consumers in its second-largest market by revenue. The U.S. is its largest. Investors took heed of those warnings at the time, and any fresh information connected to them would almost certainly have shown up in chart. This helps explain why Apple’s stock had a relatively muted move Monday, advancing 0.5% to close at $146.14 per share. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.4% to start the week. Last month, the Club formally upgraded Apple back to a 1 rating, meaning we consider a stock a buy at current levels. (Here’s how we rate the stocks in our portfolio.) Along with the tech sector, the stock has taken a beating in 2022, down nearly 18% year-to-date. However, it has recovered some from its 2022 low on May 20 low of $132.61 per share. Now that the major WWDC updates have been publicized, we also think some analysts may also revise their current-quarter forecasts in the coming days. Those potential changes could impact the stock, too. What we heard Monday The expression “own Apple, don’t trade it” reflects our belief that Apple is the finest consumer products company in the world — and therefore, staying invested in the stock over the long term is an imperative. Apple brings people into its ecosystem of smartphones, computers and wearables like the Apple Watch, capturing immense brand loyalty that drives purchases of the new hardware models when they’re released. Increasingly, that ecosystem encapsulates revenue derived from services like Apple Music, iCloud storage and convenient features like Apple Pay. On Monday, we heard about updated iPhone software that includes more customization of the lockscreen and the ability to edit and unsend iMessages. We heard about a buy now, pay later offering through Apple Pay, as well as new features coming to CarPlay software for iPhones. Apple also detailed a new offering that allows an iPhone camera to mount to a MacBook and be used as a high-quality webcam. In our view, the most important thing we learned about was the performance of Apple’s anticipated second-generation M2 chip. Apple said it’s designed to maximize MacBook performance and minimize power consumption. The M2 chip includes 25% more transistors and 50% more bandwidth than its original M1 predecessor, which has been used in Macs and iPads. Apple first started using its own chip in laptops and computers in 2020 , after years of relying on Intel processors. It’s been a successful endeavor for the company. As noted earlier, the M2 chip will make its debut a new MacBook Air version and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple said they will be available next month, although an exact launch date was not revealed. For a full rundown of everything Apple announced Monday, here is CNBC’s recap of the event . (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.
