Apple (AAPL) is not having a good year already. After rewarding shareholders last year and for years before that, analysts are voicing concerns.
AAPL stock gained 46% last year and is due to fall from profit-taking. Analysts are the biggest headwinds on the stock price action. They speculate without decisively knowing that iPhone sales will weaken.
Markets did not sell the stock when Apple posted slow iPhone sales. Sentiment shifted this year, which pressures Apple to deliver strong results.
Courts helped Apple avoid a ban on Apple Watch sales. This is a setback for Massimo (MASI), which accused it of hiring its employees, stealing its pulse oximetry technology and intellectual property, and incorporating them in Apple’s smartwatch. The ITC had barred imports and sales last Dec. 2023.
The US appellate court temporarily reserved the ban on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Series 9 models. Once Apple continues its fight against Massimo in court, chances are good that it will come out ahead.
Apple may decide to settle the case instead. This would remove future uncertainties hurting AAPL stock.
On the charts, traders tried several times in the last year to push the stock to above $200. It failed each time. The bearish pattern suggested the stock would continue its downtrend.
Apple is an expensive stock. Other than correcting for a lower price-to-earnings multiple, its prospects remain strong.
