Bargain hunters may snap up shares of Apple (AAPL) after Loop Capital downgraded the firm. Hovering a six-month lower, the analyst worried about soft iPhone sales. Falling demand and rising competition are headwinds for Apple.
Apple is one of the magnificent seven stocks that are down this year. Tesla (TSLA) is the other under-performing stock. China is a common problem for both firms. The weak domestic economy is discouraging local Chinese consumers from buying either foreign product. Patriotism is on the rise, which gives sales of Huawei and Xiaomi smartphones a boost.
Apple likely lost market share in China in the last quarter. This is a serious issue, enough for Apple CEO Tim Cook to visit the country.
UBS is bearish on Apple, too. It forecasts a 4% sales drop for iPhones Y/Y. Like Loop Capital, UBS blames market share growth for Huawei for the weak overall sales.
The media does not talk about the small, incremental changes in Apple iPhones in the last several generations. The last two releases did not offer consumers enough new hardware features to encourage them to upgrade.
Your Takeaway
Tesla is still out of favor for traders. Still, conservative readers may treat this as a hot rebound trade. Similarly, Apple stock could continue its downtrend this morning. Sentiment for the once-hot smartphone giant is firmly negative.
