iPhone maker Apple’s shares dropped by 3 per cent, hitting a seven-week low following Barclays downgrade of the shares of the world’s most valuable firm amid concerns that the demand for its devices will remain weak this year.
On Nasdaq, the shares of Apple were trading at $187.24, down by 2.75 per cent after opening the day at $187.15. Barclays is the second brokerage to have the equivalent of a ‘sell’ rating on Apple’s stock, Reuters reported.
Since early last year, the Cupertino-based technology giant has been grappling with a demand slowdown, with its performance in China being worrisome following the revival of local competitor Huawei.
“The iPhone 15 has been lacklustre and we believe iPhone 16 should be the same,” Barclays analyst Tim Long said. Barclays has also warned of risks for Apple’s services business, currently under scanner in countries including the US.
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According to a data by global financial markets infrastructure and data provider LSEG, Long is rated four out of five stars for his recommendation accuracy on Apple stock.
Share drop to erase $90 billion from Apple’s market cap
As of now, Apple’s market cap stands at $2.91 trillion. The shares drop is likely to erase about $90 billion from the company’s market cap. The stock accounting for 7 per cent of S&P 500’s weight had surged nearly 50 per cent last year and hit a record-high in December.
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Barclays has downgraded Apple’s stock to ‘underweight’ from ‘neutral’, while trimming its 12-month price target by $1 to $160. Before today, Itau BBA’s “sell” was the only bearish rating on Apple since July 2022.
Analysts have on an average rated the iPhone maker “buy” with a median price target of $200. The company trades at about 28.7 times its 12-month forward earnings estimates, much higher than the benchmark S&P 500’s 19.8.
“Our checks remain negative on volumes and mix for iPhone 15, and we see no features or upgrades that are likely to make the iPhone 16 more compelling,” analysts wrote in a note as per Bloomberg.