By
Godfrey Benjamin
March 22nd, 2024
Despite the release of the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro, Apple doesn’t have its AAPL stock skyrocketing. It was down 2.45% yesterday. But it started gaining in the premarket.
The situation with the coronavirus spread is just escalating further, and global markets are having a difficult time. Wall Street’s biggest bull stock and the darling of investors, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is likely to have a tough time ahead. AAPL stock lost over 2% yesterday and fell to $246.67. However, today it starts gaining in the premarket. Now it is 0.78% up.
Future of Apple (AAPL) Stock
Apple is currently facing a hammer blow on its production output since its Chinese manufacturing remained close over the last month. Besides, things look far from normal at this stage and possibility is that things could deteriorate going further. Analysts say that Apple is likely to have a tough time ahead as demands for products will slow down.
On Wednesday, Daniel Ives of Wedbush lowered his target for the Apple (AAPL) stock citing the impact of the pandemic. Ives has lowered his AAPL target to $335 from the previous $400 saying that the COVID-19 outbreak is a “black swan” for the company.
For the entire 2020, Wedbush has lowered its iPhone revenue outlook by nearly 14%. Similarly, it has lowered its 2021 target by 10%. Negative economic backdrop, changes in near-term consumer demand, and the global lockdown conditions could be a few reasons behind it. In a note to investors, Ives wrote:
“As analysts covering Apple, which is such a barometer for global consumer spending and technology trends, looking forward there are clearly going to be some dark days ahead for the company. This coronavirus tragic pandemic is a once-in-a-century outbreak that has changed the world in a matter of weeks with no timetable on when normalcy will eventually return”.
iPhone Launch Could See a Delay
As per earlier estimates, Apple was likely to launch its 5G iPhone models by Q2 2020. However, with its supply chain severely disrupted, Apple could potentially see a major delay ahead. “Our scenario now assumes the 5G iPhones do not get released this fall due to the global lockdown like conditions with the supply chain in Asia still on a path to normalization,” Ives said. He further added:
“Currently we estimate that ~350 million of Apple’s 925 million iPhones worldwide are in this upgrade window, as we assume going forward in a more draconian scenario that minimal new smartphone activity takes place besides this segment of Cupertino’s massive installed base.”
On Wednesday, March 18, Apple unveiled its new MacBook Air and iPad Pro with new exciting features. The new MackBook Air comes with two-times faster performance and twice the data storage from its predecessor. Similarly, the iPad Pro comes with a LiDAR scanner, an upgraded camera, and higher processing power.