Global investment bank Barclays has issued a stark warning for Apple stock (NASDAQ: AAPL), predicting that a steep correction is on the way. This is the complete opposite of what other Wall Street analysts have been forecasting for AAPL’s price prospects. The estimates from the bank state that the leading mobile maker could soon fall below the $300 range and head south further.

The warning comes after Apple stock reached a yearly high of $312 on Thursday with a market cap of $4.5 trillion. The company needs to sustain itself in the charts as its valuation has peaked. A round of sell-offs and profit bookings also remains on the cards with AAPL reaching a new ATH in 2026. Barclays is now bearish on the equity, projecting a double-digit crash that could erase all recent profits.

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Barclays Provides Downside Target For Apple Stock, Urges Investors to Sell AAPL

barclays bank
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Tim Long, the Managing Director at Barclays, wrote in a note to clients with a ‘sell’ rating for Apple stock. He warned that a failure to book profits now and jump ship could lead to the erosion of recently made gains. According to the price prediction, Apple stock could crash to the $253 level, which is nearly 19% down from its current trading price of $312.

Barclays’ $253 target for Apple stock is explicitly based on applying a more conservative 25x multiple to Apple’s projected calendar year 2027 earnings. Right now, trading over $310, Apple’s P/E multiple is sitting at a historically stretched 34.7x. Tim Long believes the fundamentals simply do not support that kind of valuation premium. The bank specifically warned that while Apple’s gross margins have been resilient, escalating supply chain pressures and rising memory component costs are expected to severely squeeze profitability over the coming months.

Therefore, an investment of $1,000 in Apple stock could plunge to the $810 level, according to Barclays. That’s a steep trim, as a quick recovery from there could be unfeasible. Tim Long had previously predicted that AAPL could fall to the $248 range. He revised the forecast on Thursday, estimating that the downside could be at $253.

Barclays estimates claim that Apple stock could bottom out at the $253 level. Therefore, taking an entry position at this range could be beneficial, as accumulating at its lows only pushes the portfolio much higher when AAPL starts to recover. While this is a bear case price prediction, Evercore ISI has forecasted the opposite, estimating AAPL to reach $500.