Apple’s lofty status as the world’s most valuable stock is at risk from a bumpy start to 2024

Apple's lofty status as the world's most valuable stock is at risk from a bumpy start to 2024
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apple It just had its worst start this year by one measure, as investors react to mounting pressures on the company, putting its long-standing status as the world’s most valuable company into perspective. stock At the market value of risk.

Shares of the tech giant fell 0.4 percent on Friday to close at around US$181 after the New York Times reported that the US Department of Justice was closer to filing an antitrust case against the company.

The decline marked Apple’s fifth consecutive negative day, and its longest losing streak since October.

A potential antitrust case against Apple “would add to the slew of problems it faces, from slowdowns… iPhone Sales for Patent issues for Apple Watch“The lawsuit could attack Apple’s business model of tightly integrating its devices and services,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Anurag Rana wrote in a note.
Shoppers inside the Apple Store in Walnut Creek, California, on December 20, 2023. Apple stock was hit by two downgrades ahead of the company’s December quarter earnings report. Image: Bloomberg

The Cupertino, California-based company has been the world’s most valuable publicly listed company since July 2022, but has seen about US$177 billion wiped off its market value so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While the stock suffered larger percentage declines in the first week of January, the losses are the largest destruction of market value at the start of any year ever.

The downturn began earlier in the week after the tech giant took a major hit Lowering ratingsAnalysts point out that China’s weak macro environment is weighing on demand for iPhones.
This has reduced its lead over its colleagues in the technology field Microsoft Corporation – whose shares witnessed a less pronounced decline at the beginning of the year – to less than 100 billion US dollars.

Apple leads a $383 billion tech run in a reversal from the group’s 2023 rally

“Investors realize how rare it is for two people to be passive,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management. “I’ve covered this company for a long time and have never seen two downgrades before an earnings report.”

Apple is also likely to come under pressure as investors rotate their portfolios at the start of the year.

“Everyone is selling winners and buying losers,” said Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management. “There is a big rebalancing going on right now.”

The losses pushed Apple’s market value to about $2.8 trillion, approaching Microsoft’s value of $2.7 trillion. Microsoft shares fell less than 0.1 percent on Friday, closing at about US$368.

The Windows software maker has taken advantage of… artificial intelligence The trade that has fascinated Wall Street over the past year. The company is OpenAIThe company’s largest shareholder has invested approximately US$13 billion in ChatGPT Parents.

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