Apple and Broadcom stock both traded above their record closing prices on Wednesday. New research shows investors exactly why the two clubs’ holdings should rise further in the future. No. 1 smartphone: Apple shares rose on Wednesday after Counterpoint Research said the company is on track to dethrone Samsung as the world’s top smartphone maker in 2025. This is a feat not seen in over 10 years. The tech giant is expected to ship 243 million iPhones in 2025, compared to 235 million for Samsung. Analysts at Counterpoint believe that device shipments will increase by 10% in 2025 compared to the previous year, and that the successful debut of Apple’s latest iPhone 17 series will be a factor in the market share expansion. Although unit shipments (the number of devices vendors ship to retailers) are different from final sales, the numbers are still important. These provide valuable insights into smartphone demand and sales forecasts. In 2025, Apple is expected to hold a 19.4% share of the global smartphone market, while Samsung is expected to have an 18.7% share. AAPL YTD Mountain Apple YTD I’m not surprised to hear about Apple’s market power. After all, the iPhone 17 series has shown promising signs many times since its launch in September. Jim Cramer says Apple’s latest flagship device is a great value considering the trade-in value of previous models and carrier subsidies. “We’ve been saying the iPhone 17 is incredible,” Jim previously said. He added, “As long as Apple makes the best product, people will buy it.” The impressive debut of the iPhone 17 is part of the reason why the stock continues to hit all-time highs and even joined the $4 trillion market cap club last month. Given the consistent signs of success of the iPhone 17, we believe the upward trend in Apple stock will continue until the end of 2025. That said, the club is still waiting for more clarity on Apple’s so far lackluster AI strategy. Hot new features, such as the long-delayed introduction of conversational Siri, could help further the iPhone upgrade cycle. Still, we believe Apple is uniquely positioned to benefit from AI. Because its huge installed customer base makes Apple a great AI partner for companies looking to expand their services to a wider audience. This means Apple can make money from AI without incurring huge costs. The club has long maintained a “proprietary, non-tradable” philosophy regarding stocks. Wall Street praise: Broadcom stock hit a new intraday high Wednesday after Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $435 from $380. Analysts who maintained a Buy rating expect Broadcom to have a solid next quarter and “strong momentum driving upside AI revenue” in 2026. Broadcom is scheduled to report its fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 on December 11th. “Given strong spending at key customers, our Q1 guidance was better than expected and we expect AI strength to continue in Q4. We also expect our updated FY26 AI revenue guidance to be over 100% year over year,” the analysts wrote in a note on Tuesday. The reference to “major customers” likely means more AI spending by hyperscalers, which means more revenue for Broadcom. Goldman projects Broadcom’s AI revenue to grow 128% year over year in fiscal 2026. Wall Street is sending Broadcom’s stock soaring as it positions the chipmaker as a counterbalance to Alphabet’s growing AI dominance. This is thanks to Broadcom’s role in co-designing Google’s custom tensor processing unit (TPU) that powers its outstanding new Gemini 3 artificial intelligence model. AVGO YTD Mountain Broadcom YTD I agree with Goldman. Even though Broadcom stock is trading at record highs, we think it has more room to rise. Big tech companies’ increased capital spending on AI infrastructure means higher sales for Broadcom’s networking and custom chip businesses. That is the main reason why the club initiated a position in the stock. Additionally, this week’s report that club name Meta Platforms is considering Google TPUs for its data centers in 2027 is a positive for Broadcom. Alphabet’s deepening efforts in AI could boost sales of custom chips that Broadcom helps design. The club has a hold rating of 2 and a price target of $415. (Jim Cramer’s charitable trusts are long AAPL, AVGO, and META. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
