(April 4): Suppliers to Apple Inc are following the iPhone maker lower on Thursday, as the Trump administration’s tariff announcement spurs widespread selling.

Apple is seen as especially vulnerable to the tariffs given it counts China as a major manufacturing hub, and Trump’s country-specific levies included a sharp hike on China.

“The simple thought is likely that Apple’s products will be subject to this tariff, and thus demand will get hit and thus the supply chain will suffer,” wrote Edison Lee, an analyst at Jefferies. 

A Goldman Sachs index of Apple suppliers fell as much as 10%, and on track for its biggest one-day drop since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. The index is trading at its lowest since February 2024, having dropped nearly 30% off a January peak.

Among notable suppliers, Cirrus Logic Inc shed 9.5%, Skyworks Solutions Inc dropped 7.9%, and Qorvo Inc tumbled 13%. Micron Technology Inc also dropped 13% and Broadcom Inc shed 7.8%. Apple itself fell 8.4% and is also eyeing its biggest one-day drop since March 2020.

Despite the drop, Jefferies is more positive on Apple’s supply chain than Apple itself.

“Even if AAPL [Apple] is exempted from the current tariffs, it will need to accelerate its supply chain diversification efforts, and thus needs to pay its suppliers better and give more share to those who could help AAPL achieve this objective,” Lee wrote.

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