Microsoft vs. Apple: Which Stock Has Performed Better Since Trump Took Office?
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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The stock markets have been on a wild ride so far in 2025 as investors try to get a handle on President Donald Trump’s policies regarding everything, from tariffs and inflation to the Federal Reserve.
Tech giants Microsoft and Apple have both experienced that ride, though in much different ways.
Microsoft has seen its stock price swing by nearly $200 a share between its high and low points since Trump took office. Apple has traded in a much more narrow range, with a difference of roughly $75 between its high and low points.
Trump’s sweeping tariff threats contributed to sharp selloffs for both companies back in April. But the president’s habit of later backing off many of those tariffs has calmed investors, leading to a series of rallies that have pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new all-time highs in recent weeks.
Microsoft has also touched a record high. But Apple has had a much harder time gaining traction.
So which stock has performed better since Trump took office? So far, Microsoft is the clear winner. Keep reading to learn more.
Microsoft’s Performance
Because Trump was inaugurated on a federal holiday — Jan. 20, 2025, also Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — the stock markets were closed. So for our purposes, we’ll look at stock performances since the close of trading on Jan. 21, 2025.
Here’s a look at how Microsoft’s stock has performed since Trump took office:
- Closing price on Jan. 21, 2025: $428.50
- Closing price Aug. 20, 2025: $505.72
- Pct. gain/loss: +18%
- Closing high since Jan. 21: $535.64 (Aug. 4)
- Closing low since Jan. 21: $354.56 (Apr. 8)
Apple’s Performance
Here’s how Apple’s stock has performed since Trump took office:
- Closing price on Jan. 21, 2025: $222.64
- Closing price Aug. 20, 2025: $226.01
- Pct. gain/loss: +3%
- Closing high since Jan. 21: $247.10 (Feb. 24)
- Closing low since Jan. 21: $172.42 (Apr. 8)
What The Numbers Mean
As the above charts show, investors are much more bullish on Microsoft than Apple under Trump. The charts don’t even tell the whole story, either.
Since the beginning of 2025, Microsoft’s stock has posted a year-to-date gain of about 19.4%. In contrast, Apple is down nearly 10% for the year — even though the S&P 500 is up more than 8% year-to-date, per Yahoo Finance.
Tariffs tell a big part of the story. As Fortune reported, Microsoft has much less direct exposure to tariffs because it doesn’t deal in a lot of physical or computer products.
That’s not the case with Apple, though. The company sells more than 220 million iPhones a year and about nine in 10 are made in China, the BBC reported — and China is one of the main targets of Trump’s tariff program.
AI Impact
Apple has also fallen behind its “Magnificent Seven” stock peers in taking advantage of the AI boom. Although the company aims to bolster its AI program, its slow response to the trend has been a “drag” on the stock, Investor’s Business Daily reported.
Microsoft has been much quicker to hop on the AI bandwagon. In fact, Truist recently raised its price target on Microsoft due to the company’s ability to “sustain strong momentum associated with cloud and AI secular growth drivers,” Investing.com reported.
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