Apple shares plunge as analyst sees nothing in the iPhone 16 line that will turn around weak demand،
A Barclays analyst today burst the balloon that was Apple stock by reducing its rating to “underweight.” It's Wall Street code that tells hedge funds and mutual funds to underweight Apple in their portfolios. Shares recently hovered near $200, but are down $6.64, or 3.45%, at $185.89 as of Tuesday afternoon. Even though Barclays reduced its Apple price target by just a dollar, from $161 to $160, the fact that the investment firm lowered its rating on Apple was enough to wreak havoc on the stock.
Barclays' research note contained a worrying prediction from the company that the 2024 iPhone 16 lineup would not be enough to reverse declining iPhone demand. The note says: “We expect a turnaround after a year in which most quarters were missed and the stock outperformed. Our controls remain negative on volumes and mix for iPhone 15, and we don't see any features or upgrades that could make the market better. iPhone16 more convincing.”
Barclays was just as bearish in today's market iPhone15 line before it was revealed because its analysts feared Apple would raise the price of handsets and reduce demand. The Barclays analyst included in the report, Tim Long, has an ironic name since he has generally been bearish on Apple (to be long on a stock is to own it with the expectation that the price will rise) since the company began covering the tech giant in 2019. In the past, he has called for a slowdown in growth at Apple's second-largest business unit, Services, and also said that adding 5G support to the iPhone range in 2020 would not lead to an increase in sales.
Traders and Investors Are Abandoning Apple Stock Today
We expect larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch screens for the iPhone16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max respectively. THE iPhone16 Pro will join the 16 Pro Max and sport the Tetraprism periscope telephoto lens, and all four models will have the new “Capture” button which is now supposed to start video recording with a single tap.
In the world of Wall Street, funds might build their portfolios around an index, for example the S&P 500. Apple represents about 7.1% of this index and Barclays recommends that these funds sell Apple in order to reduce the value of their Apple shares below the level. 7.1% benchmark. As for the price target, you will notice that Apple is already trading well above the initial target of $161, as these numbers are merely symbolic and do not indicate the exact price that the analyst s 'expects the shares to reach.
