Analysts Downgrade AAPL, Apple Stock Dives Over 15% [Mkt Close: -17.7%]

Monday September 29, 2008 12:16 pm PDT by longofest

While we typically don't follow the ebb and flow of Apple's stock (AAPL) price on MacRumors, today the value of the company dove over 15% when two analysts cut their ratings on Apple.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, RBC Capital Market and Morgan Stanley both downgraded Apple's value from bullish "outperform" or "overweight" to more neutral "sector perform" or "equal weight". Both cited concerns that Apple may not be able to maintain its traditionally high margins in the face of decreased consumer electronics spending and heightened competition.

Indeed, Apple had hinted at possible margin erosion in their last quarterly conference call. Tomorrow is the last day of the fourth fiscal quarter of 2008.

Update: AAPL closed today at $105.55 per share, down 17.69%.

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Unspeaked

44 months ago

Thought I'd post this since no one else seems to have: Apple shares have tanked - their biggest single day drop in seven years - due to some downgrades and an anticipated decrease in consumer spending:

LINK

Apple tumbles on consumer spending concerns
Monday September 29, 11:57 am ET

By Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc shares tumbled 16 percent on Monday, their biggest drop in seven years, amid concerns the maker of Mac computers and other consumer electronics will suffer as the economy slows.

Two brokerages cut their price targets, earnings forecasts and stock recommendations on the company, which also makes iPod music players and iPhones.

"We worry that consensus estimates have not been revised down to reflect slowing global consumer demand and that a broadly positive investment bias ... limits upside to (Apple) shares over the next three to six months," said Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty.

She said that Wall Street remains overly bullish on shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple, with 27 of 32 analysts "overweight" on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $115 from $178 and its recommendation on Apple to "equal-weight" from "overweight".

She also cut her fiscal 2009 profit forecast to $5.47 per share from $5.91.

Including Monday's decline the stock has lost more than one third of its value over the past month.

RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky said in a note to investors that the percentage of consumers planning to buy a personal computer over the next 90 days who intend to get a Mac rather than PC from another manufacturer posted its biggest decline in the last two-and-a-half years from August to September.

He cited results of a monthly survey that his firm conducts with research firm Changewave that looks at demand for PCs from Apple, Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and other manufacturers.

Abramsky downgraded the stock to "sector perform" from "outperform" and cut his price target to $140 from $200.

He cut his earnings forecasts for 2008, 2009 and 2010. Shares of Apple fell $20.36 to $107.88 in heavy morning trade on Nasdaq.

Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, fell 1.9 percent on the New York Stock Exchange and Dell fell 4.3 percent on Nasdaq.

Research in Motion Ltd, maker of the iPhone rival BlackBerry device, fell 3.3 percent on the Toronto Stock Exchange.