New York, January 17, 2026, 09:36 EST — Market closed.
- Shares of Apple slipped 1.1% by Friday’s close.
- Traders warn that the holiday-shortened week after monthly options expiration often sparks bigger market swings.
- Apple will release its quarterly results on Jan. 29, with investors watching closely for updates on iPhone demand, profit margins, and expenses.
Apple shares dipped on Friday as investors head into a holiday-shortened week, with the iPhone maker’s earnings report looming in under two weeks.
Apple slipped 1.1% to finish at $255.53 on Friday, putting its market cap near $3.0 trillion.
That’s significant since U.S. stocks have been trapped in a tight range close to record highs, and the focus is shifting from bank earnings to the megacap tech giants that drive indexes and risk sentiment. A major move in Apple could pull the entire market along.
Wall Street closed almost unchanged on Friday ahead of the long weekend, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 slipping roughly 0.1%. Markets will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Reuters)
Friday’s monthly options expiration often shakes up trading, and some traders are bracing for more volatility afterward. The event can shift how options dealers manage their hedges, which then ripples through daily stock movements.
“I think this options expiration will allow the S&P 500 to start moving around a bit more,” said Brent Kochuba, founder of options analytics service SpotGamma. (Reuters)
He referred to “gamma,” the options term for how fast a dealer’s hedge must shift as prices change. Dealers who are “long gamma” tend to buy on dips and sell into rallies, which usually smooths out volatility. But when that stance fades, price swings can grow more extreme.
Mike Khouw, strategist at YieldMax ETFs, noted that single-stock options might gain even more importance as earnings season heats up, with traders focusing on company-specific moves instead of broad index shifts. (Reuters)
Apple is facing fresh scrutiny over cost pressures amid talk of volatility. A Bloomberg story out this week highlighted soaring memory prices, posing a rising threat to hardware makers like Apple. If companies can’t shift these higher component costs onto customers, margins could take a hit. (Bloomberg)
Apple’s quarterly report on Jan. 29 is the more immediate hard date. Investors will focus on management’s take on holiday-quarter demand and if gross margin can withstand rising component costs. (Nasdaq)
A major risk is that earnings season triggers a shift in expectations. Should Apple offer a cautious outlook—whether on demand, costs, or both—investors might pull back from valuing the stock so highly, especially since it’s been a stand-in for the broader market in recent years.
Next up: the market reopens Tuesday, with traders bracing for bigger index moves following options expiration and tracking Apple’s positioning ahead of its Jan. 29 earnings release. (Apple)
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