An unusually high number of analysts recommend selling Apple shares. And quite a few investors are listening, as the the stock is currently down over 2% just today, and the price is below where it was 3 months ago.
Bad news for iPhone and iPad
This morning, Rosenblatt Securities analysts moved their advice on Apple stock from neutral to sell. “We believe new iPhone sales will be disappointing, iPad sales growth will slow in the second half of 2019, other product sales growth, such as the HomePod, AirPod, and iWatch, may not be meaningful to support total revenue growth,” analyst Jun Zhang said in a note to investors.
And these analysts aren’t optimistic that money coming in from services will make up for decreased in other areas. “After strong service revenue growth over the last 4 to 6 quarters and the launch of Apple Music and news, we believe service revenue growth will also decelerate,” wrote Zhang.
More pessimistic voices
Rosenblatt’s comments would probably have less impact if it weren’t one of five market-analysis firms all suggesting investors sell Apple stock. That hasn’t happened since 1997, according to Bloomberg. And less than half of the firms tracked by Bloomberg have a buy recommendation, the first time that’s happened since 2004.
Investors are hardly panicking, however. While Apple shares are down 2.09% or $4.27 at the time of this writing, that just drops the price back to where it was on June 28, a few trading days ago.
Investors will surely be looking closely at Apple’s financial results for the April-June quarter, set to be announced July 30.
