By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 12th, 2024
Apple stock has declined approximately 26 percent and 13 percent in the past twelve months and three months respectively.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares closed Tuesday, December 27, trading at $130.03, down 1.39 percent from the day’s opening price. The decline continued during the after-hours, whereby AAPL shares exchanged about $129.50 as of December 27, 2022, 7:59 p.m. EST. The latest decline has increased the possibility of Apple shares getting trapped in a fresh multi-week bear market next year. Moreover, iPhone production in Apple’s China plant has been halted, particularly during the end-of-year festivals.
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee highlighted that the latest iPhone shipment data out of China “confirm industry headwinds.”
Nonetheless, the tech stock market performed dismally on Tuesday with the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 declining 1.38% and 0.40% respectively.
According to market data from MarketWatch, Apple’s stock market has declined approximately 26 percent and 13 percent in the past twelve months and three months respectively.
Apple Stock Market Performance
The $2.1 trillion valued company continues to largely dominate the global tech industry as shown by its quarterly earnings report. During the fiscal 2022 fourth quarter that ended on September 24, 2022, Apple reported revenue of $90.1 billion, up 8 percent year over year. Additionally, the tech company recorded quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.29, up 4 percent year over year.
“Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively despite a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We continued to invest in our long-term growth plans, generated over $24 billion in operating cash flow, and returned over $29 billion to our shareholders during the quarter…”
In a bid to expand its earnings in the future, the company is exploring the 3D mixed reality market and also allowing third-party app stores. Reportedly, Apple is likely to unveil its augmented-reality/virtual-reality glasses in 2023 through an OS dubbed xrOS.
The company will be competing with the likes of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) and Microsoft in the AR/VR industry. Nonetheless, the AR/VR market is expected to grow exponentially with the metaverse industry indicating immense potential growth in coming years.
Moreover, play-to-earn (P2E) through DeFi has led the cryptocurrency and blockchain market for the past two years.
Meanwhile, Apple investors are looking into a gloomy 2023 following a poor performance in 2022. Notably, Apple shares are likely to revisit 2020 lows – from a technical standpoint- before rebounding to new ATH.
According to a study by MarketWatch, 42 ratings gave Apple shares an average target price of $173.4 and an average recommendation of Overweight.