App Store Rule Shifts, AI Catalysts, and Wall Street Price Targets
As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) heads into the final stretch of 2025, the stock is sitting close to record territory — but the story powering investor attention right now is bigger than “another strong iPhone cycle.”
As of Dec. 21, 2025 (a Sunday, with U.S. markets closed), Apple shares were hovering around $273.67, below a 52-week high near $288.62. [1]
Three forces are colliding around Apple stock into year-end:
- Regulators are steadily prying open the App Store model, with Japan becoming the latest major market to force structural changes.
- Courts are reshaping what Apple can charge outside its payment rails, especially in the U.S. Epic Games fight and the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) enforcement wave.
- 2026 is being framed as an…
