Apple shares dropped nearly 10% on Friday following a disappointing outlook that highlighted the company’s struggles to secure enough components amid an AI-driven data center boom straining global supply chains.

The decline represents the stock’s worst single-day performance since the pandemic-driven selloff in March 2020. It erases some $400 billion from Apple’s market capitalization and hand the title of the world’s most valuable company back to AI chip leader Nvidia, just days after Apple had reclaimed it.

Outgoing CEO Tim Cook, long regarded as an “Operations Genius,” described the shortages as “very significant” during his final earnings call before transitioning to executive chairman in September, with John Ternus set to succeed him. Cook said Apple had limited options to address the constraints.

“If even at Apple’s scale they are saying they are out of all supply chain flexibility, it’s really bad for everyone,” Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consultant Creative Strategies, told Reuters.

Big Tech firms have been aggressively securing advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to fuel AI data centers, driving shortages and higher prices that are expected to shrink both the personal computer and smartphone markets this year.

Apple had previously mitigated some of the impact from rising memory costs by relying on stockpiled inventory. However, Cook noted that this buffer is diminishing, while processor shortages are preventing the company from fully meeting strong demand for iPhones and Macs.

The company’s forecast for the current quarter called for revenue growth of 9% to 11%, falling short of Wall Street’s roughly 12% estimate. Softer growth in the services business also tempered otherwise solid June-quarter results.

Services weakness concerns investors

The slowdown in services raised particular concerns because it occurred alongside a period of robust iPhone sales. Services typically benefit from App Store commissions and include offerings such as Apple Music and the Apple TV streaming service.

Analysts warned that any further pressure on iPhone sales — potentially from expected price increases with the new lineup typically launched in September — could deepen the services softness.

Morgan Stanley analysts noted that Apple’s leverage over the supply chain appears diminished and that AI has not yet provided a clear measurable boost to products or services, with future monetization still uncertain. They added that App Store softness might even stem from AI shifting how customers spend their time.

Some analysts remained more optimistic, pointing out that the iPhone has previously absorbed price hikes without major demand damage. A recent U.S. leasing arrangement with Klarna, offering monthly payment plans for Apple devices, could also help offset higher prices.

At least four brokerages lowered their price targets for Apple shares, while three raised them. The median target moved to $330—$3 below the previous closing price according to LSEG data. The stock had gained 22.7% year-to-date through Thursday’s close.

MacDailyNews Take: For perspective, Chevron is worth $392 billion, Caterpillar: $378 billion, and Oracle: $373 billion. Apple today lost more than Chevron, Caterpillar, or Oracle is worth in their entirety. Overreact much, Mr. Market?

Wild overreactions like this are things of beauty! Embrace and profit from them!

Beloved interns, please Tap That Keg! Three cheers for today’s AAPL deep, deep discount! Prost, Everyone!

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Apple tumbled in late trading after component shortages weighed on the company’s sales forecast, signaling that industrywide supply constraints are taking a bigger toll than anticipated.

Revenue will rise 9% to 11% in the fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through September, the company said on a post-earnings conference call Thursday. Analysts had estimated growth of more than 12% in the period, which is likely to be the debut quarter for the next iPhone models, Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman reports.

Apple has been struggling to secure enough memory chips and computer processors, a situation that forced the company to raise prices on Macs and iPads last month. The supply crunch has also led to extended wait times on key computers like the Mac mini and Mac Studio.

The constraints will affect the iPhone, Mac and iPad in the September quarter, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said during the call. Currency fluctuations are hampering growth as well, he said.

Apple shares fell about 8% in extended trading following the announcement.

The tech giant’s results also showed weaker-than-expected expansions in China and services, two onetime growth engines. Though total revenue topped estimates, the China sales amounted to $18.8 billion in the fiscal third quarter, well short of the $19.6 billion estimated by analysts.

Services revenue of $30.7 billion also missed expectations of about $31.4 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said constraints would affect more Macs, iPhones and iPads in the current quarter. He likened the memory cost issue to a “100-year flood,” while adding that the chip shortages were fueled by higher-than-expected demand for the iPhone and Mac. He specifically cited consumer interest in the iPhone 17 line and MacBook Neo, a new low-cost laptop.

“This is not a regular supply issue, it’s a demand forecast issue to be candid,” Cook said during the company’s conference call with analysts on Thursday. “We’ve got a quarter ahead where we’ll be scrambling on the supply side.”

Overall, Apple reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% from a year earlier and above estimates, with net income rising to $29.7 billion. iPhone revenue jumped 21.7% to $54.25 billion, while Mac sales rose sharply as well.

MacDailyNews Take: The “disappointing” outlook (if revenue rising 9% to 11% YoY could ever be called “disappointing”) sent AAPL shares down as much as 9.78% in subsequent trading, marking one of the stock’s sharpest declines in more than a year.

If every company is forced to raise prices, and they are, the one with the most affluent customers stands to benefit most. Its buyers can better absorb the higher costs, while users of rival products may rethink their choices based on long-term value and resale potential rather than just the sticker price, helping Apple amass market share in the process.

These sort of irrational haircuts are resplendent gifts that will never stop giving! If you’re in position, take them!

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The post Apple slides after supply shortages hurt sales forecast appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple shares fell nearly 10% on Friday after a disappointing forecast revealed struggles to secure enough components amid the AI-driven data center boom straining global supply chains, according to Reuters.

The drop, if sustained, would mark the stock’s worst day since the pandemic-driven selloff in March 2020. It would erase nearly $500 billion from Apple’s market capitalization and return the crown of the world’s most valuable company to AI chip giant Nvidia, days after Apple reclaimed it.

Tim Cook, widely hailed as a supply-chain genius, called the shortages “very significant” and said Apple had limited options to address them, speaking on his final earnings call as CEO before handing the reins to John Ternus in September and becoming executive chairman.

“If even at Apple’s scale they are saying they are out all supply chain flexibility, it’s really bad for everyone,” Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consultant Creative Strategies, told Reuters.

Big Tech has been scooping up advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to power its AI data centers, sparking shortages and price increases that are expected to shrink both the personal computer and smartphone markets this year.

Apple had cushioned some of the blow from surging memory costs by drawing on stockpiled inventory, but Cook said on Apple’s conference call that the buffer was fading and shortages of processors were keeping it from meeting strong demand for iPhones and Macs.

Its forecast on Thursday for revenue growth of between 9% and 11% in the current quarter fell short of Wall Street’s roughly 12% estimate, and softer growth in its services business also overshadowed otherwise strong June-quarter results.

Services Weakness Worries Investors

The services weakness worried investors as it came during a stretch of strong iPhone sales, which typically feed the business that takes a cut of App Store purchases and includes everything from Apple Music to Apple TV.

That slowdown could deepen if iPhone sales take a hit from a price increase that many analysts expect during the launch of the new lineup, which typically happens in September, the report noted.

“Apple’s leverage over the supply chain appears to be in question and it’s not clear that AI is serving as any measurable tailwind to products or services, with its future monetization impact still uncertain,” Morgan Stanley analysts said, as quoted by Reuters. “In fact, one could argue App Store softness might even be a result of AI re-prioritizing customer time.”

Still, some analysts said that the iPhone has weathered price hikes before without denting demand significantly and that a recent U.S. leasing deal with Klarna that offers monthly plans for Apple’s devices could soften the blow.

At least four brokerages cut their targets for the company’s stock price, while three raised. That moved the median view to $330, which is $3 lower than the last closing price, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. The stock has risen 22.7% this year as of Thursday’s close.

MacDailyNews Take: It’s always darkest before the dawn. Just one month to go!

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The post Apple stock price plummets as supply chain snarls mar forecast in Cook’s final earnings as CEO appeared first on MacDailyNews.

In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $3.17 to $340.08 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $342.89.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 50,765,695 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 55,539,493 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 41.22.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.995 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. Apple (AAPL) – $4.995T
2. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.772TT
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.081T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.922T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.483T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• SpaceX (SPCX): $1.534T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.506T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.214T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.100T
• Walmart (WMT): $900.059B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $741.304B
• Intel (INTC): $435.297B
• Cisco (CSCO): $455.551B
• Netflix (NFLX): $301.428B
• Dell (DELL): $253.594B
• IBM (IBM): $214.326B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $176.724B
• Disney (DIS): $171.741B
• Sony (SONY): $130.897B
• Spotify (SPOT): $104.260B
• Adobe (ADBE): $99.025B
• Nokia (NOK): $49.992B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $25.858B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.562B
• BlackBerry (BB): $4.721B
• Sonos (SONO): $2.001B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.249B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: To the moon, Alice. To the moon!

On April 20, when Apple announced Tim Cook would be kicked upstairs to be replaced by product guy John Ternus as CEO, AAPL closed at $273.05 after being range-bound all year. Since that announcement, AAPL has surged as high as today’s $342.89. That 25.58% leap in under 90 days highlights just how favorably Apple investors view John Ternus.

Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

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The post Apple shares hit new all-time closing and intraday highs appeared first on MacDailyNews.

In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $3.89 to $336.91 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $339.57.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 45,246,885 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 55,382,396 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 40.79.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.948 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. Apple (AAPL) – $4.948T
2. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.760T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $3.994T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.890T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.489T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.070T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.221T
• SpaceX (SPCX): $1.495T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.507T
• Walmart (WMT): $889.236B
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.069T
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $807.066B
• Intel (INTC): $462.383B
• Cisco (CSCO): $451.570B
• Netflix (NFLX): $293.141B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $181.397B
• IBM (IBM): $203.765B
• Disney (DIS): $167.816B
• Dell (DELL): $275.606B
• Sony (SONY): $130.897B
• Adobe (ADBE): $94.506B
• Spotify (SPOT): $101.724B
• Nokia (NOK): $51.750B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $24.281B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.031B
• BlackBerry (BB): $5.005B
• Sonos (SONO): $1.866B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.248B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: The natural order has been restored, thanks to growing optimism over incoming CEO John Ternus*. Onward and upward, Cupertino soldiers!

*On April 20, when Apple announced Tim Cook would be kicked upstairs to be replaced by product guy John Ternus as CEO, AAPL closed at $273.05 after being range-bound all year. Since that announcement, AAPL has surged as high as today’s $339.57. That ~24% leap in under 90 days highlights just how favorably Apple investors view John Ternus.

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The post Apple again the World’s Most Valuable Company as shares hit new all-time closing and intraday highs appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The U.S. stock market has been stuck in a two-month rut amid rising bond yields and disappointing earnings from Alphabet and Tesla, leaving bulls searching for a catalyst. Apple stands out as the only stock among the ten largest in the S&P 500 trading near an all-time high, CNBC reports.

After months of stagnation, Apple shares have climbed about 20% from their late-June low and recently traded less than two dollars below a fresh record set just over a week earlier. The company is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell on Thursday.

Options activity reflects traders positioning for continued strength. Big-money participants have been buying in-the-money calls, while speculative interest has focused on a potential move to new highs by Friday, according to trades observed before the market close on Friday and elevated open interest built up over the summer.

Of the roughly $590 million in options premium that changed hands in Apple on Friday, about $442 million was linked to calls, per SpotGamma data. Traders purchased nearly 560,000 calls versus just 332,000 puts, according to ThinkOrSwim figures. Options prices currently imply an almost 4% move for Apple after earnings—an unusually large expected swing compared with the roughly 1% average historical move over the past year, based on Cboe LiveVol data.

“I think the probability is fairly high that Apple could help stabilize the market this week,” Nigam Arora, founder and author of The Arora Report newsletter, told CNBC. “Investors are viewing Apple as a defensive stock because, unlike several of its peers, it isn’t spending hundreds of billions on AI capex.”

The largest single trade Friday involved a new position of $2.6 million in 280-strike calls expiring in mid-August—a bullish, near stock-replacement trade given its high delta.

Among options expiring this Friday, the $320 strike holds the largest open interest, with about 13,000 calls and 5,000 puts outstanding, according to BarChart data. That positioning suggests confidence that last week’s lows will hold even if the reaction to earnings is muted.

By volume on Friday, the most actively traded contract was the 300-strike put (about 7,500 contracts for roughly $374,000 in premium). The second-most popular was the 340-strike call (5,000 contracts totaling about $2.3 million in premium), SpotGamma data show. That call closed at $4.25, meaning buyers would need Apple to rally roughly 3.4% this week to push beyond its all-time high of $335.

MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s earnings results for you as soon as they are released on Thursday, Thursday, July 30th right around 4:30pm EDT / 1:30pm PDT. We’ll follow that with live notes from Apple’s conference call with analysts starting at 5:00pm EDT / 2:00pm PDT.

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The post Options prices currently imply an almost 4% move for Apple after July 30 earnings report appeared first on MacDailyNews.