News about Apple

According to the Washington Post, the donor list for President Trump's White House ballroom project reportedly links companies and individuals to federal contracts, policy decisions and a presidential pardon. Nvidia and Apple each pledged $25 million, Google committed $22 million, and Microsoft and Palantir each pledged $10 million. The private campaign collected $333 million, including at least $77 million from anonymous donors, and 57 donors pledged at least $100,000. One highlighted case is Isabela Herrera, who pledged $2.5 million, while her father was pardoned by Trump in January 2026. The project has faced legal challenges; the Supreme Court allowed construction to proceed on Aug. 31, with Trump targeting completion in 2028.

Starboard Value sees significant upside in Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) if the company delivers on the cost savings and margin targets from its merger with Qorvo, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The activist investor considers Skyworks undervalued after completing the Qorvo acquisition earlier this month, and sees growth from the companies' complementary product portfolios. The merger targets at least $500 million in annual cost savings within three years, while management forecasts operating margins of 30% to 35% within two to three years. The combined company is valued at about $22 billion, as both firms face slowing growth after Apple shifted toward in-house chips.

Apple and Nvidia are the only two companies to have reached a $5 trillion market cap. The article argues Nvidia offers more upside than Apple but carries more risk. Nvidia's revenue is projected at nearly $412 billion in fiscal 2027, up from nearly $27 billion in fiscal 2023, and the company forecasts another 70% growth next year, driven by demand for AI infrastructure. It trades at 13.5 times forward earnings on fiscal 2028 estimates, versus 36 times for Apple's fiscal 2027, while Apple's EPS is projected to rise from $6.11 to $8.83, a 45% increase on 21% revenue growth. The author warns that a major slowdown in AI infrastructure spending would hit Nvidia hardest.

The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) is a passive index fund holding 318 technology stocks. Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Broadcom together made up about 49% of the fund's assets as of Sept. 30. The fund has averaged 15.03% annual returns since its January 2004 inception, with 24.7% over 10 years, 20.9% over five years, 35% over three years and 35.2% over the past year. VGT does not hold Alphabet, Amazon, Meta or Tesla because they are not classified as information technology under its benchmark. The article notes that investors worried about this concentration could instead buy an S&P 500 or Nasdaq-100 ETF for broader diversification.

Chris Thomas, a Pittsburgh business owner, wears Meta glasses, a Fieldy pendant and an Amazon Bee wristband to record and organize his daily life. A bystander at a bar objected because he could not be sure the devices were off, so Thomas now takes them off completely. More always-listening AI devices are emerging, including Amazon's Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse and Apple's Siri Recap on Apple Watch Series 12, raising concerns about covert recording without bystanders' consent. Unlike earlier smart speakers, some of these products interpret speech without retaining the underlying audio, leaving unresolved whether this could count as unlawful interception. Attorney Colin Zick says broadly worded state laws such as Massachusetts' could apply, and in some states the wearer may face greater legal risk than the manufacturer.