The Justice Department is preparing to file a sweeping antitrust complaint against Apple, according to a report from Politico, but Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani thinks the tech giant remains the least at risk from regulatory changes among big tech companies.
On Friday, Politico reported that various groups inside the DOJ were hoping to file an antitrust suit against Apple by the end of the year. Most of the attention has focused on the company’s App Store, but the case could also allege that Apple’s hardware harms competitors beyond app developers, Politico added.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday morning.
While the lawsuit would be a “headline risk” that could affect the stock price, investors shouldn’t be too worried, wrote Daryanani. “We think Apple is well positioned to win any potential lawsuit related to the App Store,” he said.
The risks regarding hardware are also relatively small, Daryanani added. Politico reported that the DOJ suit could center around Apple’s dispute with Tile, a tracking-device company whose signature tracking hardware competes against Apple’s AirTags. If the suit does pivot to focusing on Tile’s claims, that would be a positive for Apple, as changes to AirTags would be “relatively immaterial” to the company’s bottom line, Daryanani said.
If filed, the DOJ’s suit would be the latest legal action challenging Apple’s market position in recent years. The company is currently appealing the outcome of its battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games, which would bring about significant changes to the App Store by making it easier for software developers to circumvent Apple’s payment system for in-game purchases.
A DOJ suit focused on App Store practices would be more significant, Daryanani wrote. He said an antitrust suit probably wouldn’t be filed until later this year, once the appeals of the Epic lawsuit have been resolved.
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