Lately, the U.K has been a thorn in the sides of a lot of tech companies out there. Its Competition and Markets Authority has effectively hamstrung the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) / Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) deal, and now it’s proving a problem for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) too. Not just Apple, either, but Apple is already down a bit in Thursday afternoon’s trading over its potential response to a new U.K security bill.
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The bill in question is called the “Online Safety Bill”, and if that sounds familiar enough to make you roll your eyes, rest assured you’re not alone. The bill calls for, among other things, the government to have the ability to read other people’s messages, including messages that have been encrypted. In fact, those “other things” seem to be the biggest problem; Apple released a nine-page rebuttal to the Online Safety Bill that spelled out many of the issues Apple had. Indeed, if the bill goes forward, Apple may ultimately pull iMessage and FaceTime from Great Britain to avoid falling afoul of the bill-turned-law.
However, all is not bad news for Apple of late. Apple’s construction of an AI-driven chatbot for internal use was sufficient to spark investor interest. Sufficient interest, in fact, to give Apple an extra $71 billion in market capitalization. While that’s left some investor theories turned upside down—some began to regard Apple as a “boring” tech company that produces high-quality merchandise and stays out of shiny new tech like AI—it’s still caught plenty of interest.
Despite the legal troubles that may be afoot, that’s not stopping analysts from getting behind Apple. Apple stock is considered a Strong Buy, supported by 24 Buy ratings and seven Hold. With an average price target of $196.32, Apple stock can only offer investors a fractional upside potential.
