Reuters
- Apple stock has suffered two downgrades in a week from analysts at Piper Sandler and Barclays.
- Among other things, they're concerned about iPhone sales, particularly in China, one of Apple's biggest markets.
- The downgrades come amid Apple's patent dispute with healthtech firm Masimo over the Apple Watch.
The new year is just getting started, but it's already proving troublesome for Apple.
The company's stock got two downgrades in a week, first from Barclays, and then from Piper Sandler.
Barclays analysts, led by Tim Long, lowered their rating from equal weight to underweight, adjusting their price target on the stock from $161 to $160. The analysts' note cited "lackluster" sales of the iPhone 15 in China, one of Apple's largest markets, as well as "a lack of bounce-back in Macs, iPads and wearables."
Piper Sandler analysts, led by Harsh Kumar, lowered their rating from overweight to neutral, cutting their price target from $220 to $205. Kumar wrote that they're concerned about handset inventories in the first half of the year and believe the growth rate for unit sales has peaked, Reuters reported. The analysts also cited the "deteriorating macro environment in China," according to Reuters.
Apple closed at $181.91 on Thursday, a drop of 1.27%. Over the past five days, Apple's stock is down more than 6% — putting in a worse performance than the broader market over the same time period; it's down only 2%.
Apple also finds itself in the midst of a turbulent legal battle. The company's patent dispute with medical device maker Masimo briefly saw US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 banned.
Beyond Apple, it's been a rocky start for the broader "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks, which refers to Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla.
Over the first two trading days of the year, their stock collectively fell by $316 billion, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv. Apple led the pack in losses in that period, with shares down more than 4% to shed almost $130 billion of value.