Apple Under Pressure, Stock Gets Downgraded

Reuters
By Reuters
December 4, 2018Business News
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Apple stock dropped 2 percent in pre-market trading on Dec. 4, after being downgraded by HSBC analysts.

It was a rough day for stocks. At midday, Apple stock had dropped over 4 percent, the Dow plummeted 2.7 percent 700 points, the S&P fell 2.67 percent, and the Nasdaq plunged 3 percent.

By the end of the day, Apple stock had dropped 4.40% percent, the Dow plummeted 3.10 percent; 799.3 points lower to 25,027.07, the S&P 500 fell 3.24 percent; 90.31 points lower to 2700.06, and the Nasdaq plunged 3.8 percent; 283 points lower to 7158.43.

Apple has recently been contending with Amazon and Microsoft for the position as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

One of Apple’s suppliers, Cirrus Logic, trimmed its revenue outlook, adding to growing evidence that the latest iPhones, the XS and XR, are not selling well. Cirrus shares also fell.

Uncertainty in the outcome of the U.S.-China trade war has affected Apple and other tech companies. Increased tariffs could affect Apple iPhones and laptops being imported from China.

Executives at Apple’s biggest iPhone assembler Foxconn told Reuters that it is considering setting up a factory in Vietnam to shelter themselves from any impact of an ongoing trade war.

Apple’s decision to stop disclosing how many iPhones are sold each quarter has unsettled investors. That move has been interpreted as a sign of further declines in iPhone sales.

A trade-in promotion is being advertised on Apple’s website as the company offers a discounted sticker price on new iPhones with the trade-in of an older iPhone.

With fewer innovations from previous models, more people are choosing to hold on to their phones for longer before upgrading.

Jeremy Sandberg contributed to this report.

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