Apple holds up as AI spending weighs on Big Tech, with iPhone and services growth providing support

Apple held up amid weakness in major technology stocks as it stayed outside the AI capital spending race. While major cloud companies increased capital expenditure roughly sixfold to ninefold since 2023, Apple reduced its spending.

In its “Charts of the Week: Apple Skips Capex, and the Crowd Goes Wild (Sort Of)” report published on November 6, 2026, Andreessen Horowitz said Apple was the only Magnificent Seven company to outperform the Nasdaq this year as of earlier that week. Nvidia retained a narrow lead over the S&P 500 when the data was compiled using rolling seven-day averages, but subsequently lost that advantage.

AI and related companies were among the main drags on Nasdaq returns over the previous 30 days, the newsletter said. Hyperscalers, emerging cloud providers, semiconductor companies and AI supply chain businesses weighed on the index. Retailers Costco and Walmart were among the positive contributors. Tesla also gained, although its advance only partly reversed an otherwise weak year for its shares.

Apple stood out for its different approach to investment. Capital expenditure as a share of sales roughly doubled to tripled at the four main hyperscalers, while Apple's ratio declined by about a third. Andreessen Horowitz interpreted Apple's relative resilience as a market reward for keeping spending below levels preceding the AI investment surge.

Growth in Apple's core businesses also supported its performance. iPhone revenue growth rebounded substantially, while services continued to grow at about 13% year over year, according to the newsletter. Concerns that higher component costs would translate into more expensive devices and weaker demand had yet to materialize for iPhones.

Growth across Macs, iPads and wearables, however, slowed to single digits. The iPad reached its sales peak within three to four years of its introduction in 2010. It accounted for nearly 20% of Apple's revenue in 2013, but sales have since declined or remained broadly flat. Its current revenue share is below 6%, reducing its importance to Apple's overall results.

Apple has offset that weakness through growth elsewhere. The newsletter argued that few observers in 2012 would have believed the company could keep thriving after a device responsible for 20% of revenue reached its sales peak. Even Warren Buffett only began buying his Apple position in 2016.