Apple is expanding its efforts to expand manufacturing in the United States with the addition of several new partners, including Qnity Electronics. This is a win-win for both club companies and their investors. Apple announced Thursday that chip materials maker Qnity, along with Face ID parts supplier Cirrus Logic and sensor manufacturers Bosch and TDK, have joined its U.S. manufacturing program to bring more of its supply chain to the U.S. mainland. The iPhone maker said it plans to spend $400 million through 2030 as part of these new programs. “At Apple, we believe in the power of American innovation and manufacturing, and we’re proud to partner with even more companies to make critical components and cutting-edge materials for our products right here in the United States,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release. Apple made a splashy announcement in the Oval Office alongside President Donald Trump in August 2025, announcing its American Manufacturing Program. It was a politically smart move by Mr. Cook to give the company breathing room with President Trump’s tariffs and domestic manufacturing crusade. At the time, Apple added $100 billion to its $500 billion U.S. investment pledge made in February 2025, but that failed to keep the company in President Trump’s favor throughout the spring and early summer. Qnity now becomes the third club name to join Apple’s manufacturing initiative, joining Broadcom and Corning. In fact, it was the creation of the American Manufacturing program that got us interested in Corning stock. Apple invested $2.5 billion in Corning to help the upstate New York-based company expand its manufacturing capacity for the glass used in iPhone and Apple Watch covers. Focusing on Corning led me to learn more about the company’s unique opportunity to supply fiber optic cable to data centers as AI builds out, ultimately leading me to pull the trigger and start a position in October 2025. Broadcom, which re-entered the portfolio in August 2023, makes radio frequency components critical to 5G communications in Apple devices. Qnity’s involvement with Apple underscores Qnity’s importance in the semiconductor supply chain, and we couldn’t be happier about the close relationship between our two companies. The chips cannot be manufactured without special chemicals and materials from Qnity, which supplies companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Apple is a major customer for TSMC’s new Arizona chip factory. Apple is about as good a partner as any company could hope for, thanks to its strong customer loyalty and deep pockets. This move increases our confidence in Qnity’s ability to grow revenue. As Jim Cramer and Director of Portfolio Analysis Jeff Marks discussed in Thursday’s morning meeting, Qnity remains undervalued compared to its main rival, Entegris, despite its strong year-to-date performance. Qnity’s stock trades at less than 32 times this year’s expected earnings, while Entegris trades at about 36 times this year’s earnings, according to FactSet data. Although we prefer to talk about business fundamentals over politics, there’s no denying that the Trump administration prefers to support those who work with the White House. As a result, companies that can demonstrate a commitment to American manufacturing face less risk of tough talk coming out of Washington. Thursday’s Qnity news adds another company to our portfolio, makes us a little safer from political fray, and makes Apple appear to have a stronger, safer, more American supply chain. (Jim Cramer’s charitable trusts are Long AAPL, Q, AVGO, and GLW. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
