- Worries about sales of iPhone slowing this year turning analysts off company
- $1,599 iPhone 15 has had ‘lackluster’ sales – leading Barclays to downgrade stock on Tuesday and now Piper Sandler had cut its rating
- Microsoft is close behind Apple in market cap
Growing worries about iPhone sales has prompted a second analyst this week to downgrade Apple’s stock price.
The tech giant’s value has now slipped by $155 billion this week – more than THREE times the value of Ford.
Apple is still worth $2.83 trillion – making it the most valuable company in the world.
But No2 ranked Microsoft – which is seen to be a leader in AI – is worth $2.73 trillion, and could overtake this month if Apple’s share price continues to slide.
The gap is now down $100 billion – the smallest it has been since November 2021.
Piper Sandler and Co cut its rating on Apple on Thursday, the second big bank to do so after Barclays downgrade on Tuesday.
Apple stock price has fallen this week – Microsoft could take spot as world’s biggest company
Apple stock price dropped again on Thursday after Piper Sandler cut its rating on the share price, meaning Apple’s value has fallen by more than 6 percent this week
Microsoft’s share price has also slipped this week, but by less. It is now close to taking over as the world’s most valuable company
An analyst at Barclays downgraded Apple shares, causing them to fall in value. Barclays said sales of the iPhone 15 – held up by Apple CEO Tim Cook – have been ‘lackluster’
Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said he was was worried about the iPhone is not selling as much as expected in the first half of this year.
‘Growth rates have peaked for unit sales,’ he said.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Tim Long from Barclays said sales of Apple’s iPhone 15 smartphones have been ‘lackluster’ and the upcoming iPhone 16 ‘should be the same.’ He set a target of $160 per share.
After that, the share price – which had been above $192 at the end of December – dropped four percent immediately, and by Wednesday afternoon it was hovering around $184.
Then today (Thursday), the price fell again to below $182 – down 6.3 percent this year – after the note from Piper Sandler.
Microsoft’s share price is down this year, too but only by 2 per cent to just under $368.
As well as Microsoft shares having slimmer losses so far in 2024, the maker of Windows is coming off a slightly stronger year than Apple’s. Microsofts shares rose 57 percent in 2023 as compared with 48 percentfor Apple.
Apple relies on iPhones for just over half of its revenue. Microsoft was once depending on its Windows software but now it also makes money from cloud computing and devices like its Surface computers.
Apple was the first ever company to amass a $1 trillion valuation in 2018. It has remained the world’s largest company ever since except for brief periods when Microsoft stole the title.
The next biggest company is Saudia Arabian Oil at arund $2.13 trillion, then Google owner Alphabet at $1.73 trillion and then Amazon at $1.51 trillion.
Apple had another issue to deal with Thursday – it had to pull an update to its operating system after just two hours since it causes iPhones to freeze. It was a beta update – for those who are keen to test the latest features – so it didn’t affect most users.
Apple’s shares rose 50 per cent to hit a record high last year – making it the first company with a market value above $3 trillion. It hit the mark first in June and then again in early December when shares were above $193.
Sales slowing in China are the biggest problem for Apple, analysts say. This is happening for two key reasons.
Chinese-based rivals like Huawei are gaining market share there, plus Beijing has limits on government employee use of iPhones.
According to Bloomberg, smartphone data company IDC cut its 2024 forecast for Apple’s China sales.
‘Huawei’s success most significantly impacts Apple’s growth in China,’ said IDC research director Nabila Popal.
Huawei’s share of high-end smartphones has risen to 24 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 – from 11 percent the year before.
By Daily Mail Online, January 4, 2024