F1 Is Apple's Biggest Box-Office Win—So Why Is The Stock Stalling?

The year 2025 will go down in history for tech giant Apple Inc. AAPL, but it won't be an iPhone or a new product launch. The year will mark the company's biggest box office movie of all time with "F1."

While the film is breaking box office records, it might not move the needle for Apple stock.

What Happened: Action movie "F1," which stars Brad Pitt, ranked second at the domestic box office during the Fourth of July holiday weekend with $26.1 million, trailing only "Jurassic World Rebirth."

The film has grossed $109.5 million domestically and $293.6 million worldwide after 10 days in theaters.

With the latest weekend box office total, "F1" is now the highest-grossing Apple theatrical film of all time, surpassing the $221 million total from "Napoleon," as reported by Variety.

With a strong sophomore weekend showing, "F1" could not only be the highest grossing Apple film of all time, but could surpass the theatrical totals of all Apple's previous films, including "Killers of the Flower Moon," which grossed $158 million and "Argylle," which grossed $96 million.

Many movie companies would likely see their stock prices rise if they were breaking all-time company or box office records. In the case of Apple, though, the film's success hasn't moved the Apple stock price much to date.

Apple’s previous big-budget films, "Napoleon" and "Killers of the Flower Moon,” had budgets of over $200 million each. They failed to generate a profit.

"F1" comes in with a reported production budget of $250 million and a marketing budget of $100 million, which means the film is still far away from breaking even for Apple, especially when accounting for the split it will pay out to movie theater companies.

The film ranks 11^th domestically for the year, earning $109.5 million, and 10^th worldwide at $293.6 million. While the film may not stay there, a top 10 film of the year would put Apple's film unit on the map.

Why It's Important: While Apple films have not been profitable yet, they are an important part of the company's entertainment division, which includes the AppleTV+ streaming platform.

Apple could release the films as streaming exclusives. But the box office route helps eat the high costs of making the movie and allows it to campaign for major award nominations.

Prediction market Kalshi currently lists a 22% chance that "F1" is nominated for Best Picture and a 12% chance that Pitt will be nominated for Best Actor for the film.

Award nominations could help boost the prominence of "F1" and Apple's place in the film world. Apple was the first streaming company to ever win the Best Picture with "CODA" previously.

While Apple's stock price may not get a boost from "F1's" success at the box office, there is a good chance that its streaming platform could get a boost when the film is added to Apple TV+. Apple also has the chance to time the launch of its rumored ad-supported streaming plan around the time that "F1" hits the platform. Apple has previously offered promotions like free preview weekends around major series releases.

Launching an ad-supported plan could be the next catalyst for AppleTV+ and the timing with "F1" hitting the platform could be a potential huge boost for Apple on the streaming front.

In the most recently reported second quarter, Apple reported $68.7 billion in product revenue, $26.65 billion in services revenue and a quarterly total of $94.53 billion in revenue.

With an estimated 45 million paid streaming subscribers who pay around $10 per month, the $450 million per month isn't a ton to move the needle. Apple loses an estimated $1 billion per year from its streaming platform.

Whether the debut of "F1" on the platform, along with an ad-supported plan, brings Apple TV+ closer to profitability this year remains to be seen.

Price Action: Apple stock is down 0.5% to $212.47 on Monday, versus a 52-week trading range of $169.21 to $260.09. Apple stock is down 12.8% year-to-date in 2025.

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