Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to announce the company’s additional $100 billion commitment to the U.S. on Wednesday—while also gifting the president an Apple-themed plaque.
The iPhone maker said on Wednesday that it’s significantly accelerating its investment in the U.S., which now totals $600 billion over the next four years.
“As you know, Apple’s been an investor in other countries—I won’t say which ones—but a couple. And they’re coming home,” Trump said at the press conference.
Apple also said it is working with its suppliers to accelerate manufacturing in the U.S. through the “new American Manufacturing Program.” One of the partners in this program includes Corning, which makes glass for notebook computers, desktops, televisions, and more. Apple will produce all of the cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch in Corning’s Harrodsburg, Ky., manufacturing facility.
“Soon, every iPhone and Apple Watch sold around the world will be built with Kentucky-made cover glass,” Apple said.
During the press conference, Cook unboxed a plaque engraved for Trump to display on his desk. The plaque was made of glass from the Corning line, Cook said. It had the Apple emblem cut out of the middle. The base of the plaque was made of 24-karat gold.
Corning stock was rising 4.4% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
Apple also said on Wednesday that it plans to hire 20,000 people in the U.S., with the majority of the new jobs to focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and artificial intelligence. The company previously gave this plan when announcing its initial $500 billion investment in the U.S. back in February.
Apple had previously announced a $500 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years. Cook said on the company’s July 31 earnings call that the outlay would lead to “driving innovation and creating jobs in cutting-edge fields like advanced manufacturing, silicon engineering and artificial intelligence.”
Shares jumped 5.1% during regular trading hours on Wednesday and were up another 2.1% after hours.
“The stock is up on the news likely a relief rally that Cook—who has been largely mute in response to the attacks on the company—is extending an olive branch,” Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Trump wants manufacturing to come to the U.S., and is hoping to incentivize companies into making the move by raising tariffs on some of the country’s largest trading partners. Apple has since moved the building of iPhones that are set to be shipped to the U.S. to India from China in an effort to avoid the most hefty of Trump’s levies.
Trump previously said he “had a little problem,” with Cook over the move to India.
“Playing nice with the administration is not optional,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria told Barron’s on Wednesday.
Currently, most of Apple products are temporarily exempt from the heftiest tariffs amid the ongoing Section 232 investigation, which allows the U.S. government to look into whether imports of certain products are a threat to national security. However, Trump has recently said he would unveil tariff rates for semiconductor chips as soon as next week.
“When you play nice with the administration, you get better outcomes, and so what investors are saying today is that based on this announcement, they believe Apple is more likely to get good outcomes in terms of tariffs,” Luria added. He rates Apple as a Buy with a $250 price target.
Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com and Ben Levisohn at ben.levisohn@barrons.com
