Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Apple isn’t having the best of days in the market today. In fact, since the opening bell, the stock has been making its way toward the bottom. While the losses aren’t massive yet, they are steady, and they’re being caused by some very concerning news. Below, we’ll talk about what we’re seeing, why, and what investors should be watching for with regard to AAPL ahead.
What We’re Seeing From AAPL
As mentioned above, Apple isn’t having the best of days in the market today. When the opening bell rang, the stock was in the green, but not by much. Since then, we’ve seen slow and steady declines, bringing the stock well below the break even point. At the moment (1:52), AAPL is trading at $115.58 per share after a loss of $1.15 per share or 0.98% thus far today.
Why The Stock Is Falling
With AAPL being one of the largest companies in the world, it’s been on my watch list for some time. Unfortunately, like many, I have my concerns. Ultimately, these concerns revolve around the company’s flagship product, the iPhone. While the product is still the most popular smartphone in the world, it has been losing ground. With lower sales volume, the company will drive less revenue and less profit. Unfortunately, it seems as though the theories behind the concerns are coming to fruition.
Earlier today, news broke with regard to the production of the iPhone. In fact, Nikkei released an entire report surrounding the production of the product in the first quarter of the year 2017. In their report, Nikkei took a look into data from suppliers of different aspects of the iPhone. By calculating this data, Nikkei has come to the conclusion that iPhone production in the first quarter is going to be cut by approximately 10%. If this is the case, that’s a massive production cut, meaning that Apple isn’t expecting to see strong sales leading into the new year.
If this is indeed the case, it’s going to be overwhelmingly bad news. After all, this wouldn’t be the first production cut that AAPL has taken part in. In fact, the company was forced to cut production in late 2015 through the year 2016. At the time, AAPL cited excessive inventory of the iPhone 6s as the reason for the cuts. However, digging into the reason for excessive inventory proved to be concerning. Ultimately, the inventory issue was caused by sales issues. Now, we’re running into the same issue yet again, for the second year in a row.
What Investors Should Be Watching For Ahead
Moving forward, there’s no doubt that we’re going to see interesting movement surrounding AAPL. Much of this movement is likely to be caused by further news surrounding the iPhone. So, investors should be watching for any news with regard to production, sales reports, and anything else that shows the success or lack there of with regard to the most recent version of the phone. Of course, it will also be important to keep an eye on economic conditions, competition, and other factors that play a role in Apple’s ability to sell its products.