Catenaa, Wednesday, February 18, 2026- Apple’s 40-day correlation to the Nasdaq 100 Index tumbled to 0.21 last week, the lowest since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Its correlation with the benchmark has been on the decline since May, when it reached 0.92, as Apple’s decision to mostly sit out the AI arms race has turned it into an outlier compared with many of its rivals.
A correlation of 1 means the two securities are moving in perfect unison, while a reading of -1 signals they are moving opposite each other.
For more than a month, investors have found themselves in an AI-fueled “doom loop,” flip-flopping between fears that the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on AI will not pay off and worries that industries from software to wealth management and logistics will be rendered obsolete by the same technology.
Results released last month also underscored some of the positive trends at the company. It reported record quarterly sales, with notable strength in its key iPhone product line, and gave a better-than-expected outlook for the current quarter. The company will host a product launch event in a couple of weeks.
Apple’s decoupling from its tech peers was on full display Tuesday, when its 3.2% gain easily outperformed the 0.1% drop in the Nasdaq 100 Index.
That marked the third time this month that the stock has bested the gauge by at least 3 percentage points, including a February 04 drubbing that was the best in more than a year. Both Apple and the Nasdaq 100 Index were little changed in early trading on Wednesday.
The stock is 1.7% higher for February, compared with a 3.2% decline in the Nasdaq 100 and a 7.2% slump for the Magnificent Seven Index, which is headed for its worst monthly performance since March.
