Apple Plunges 7% on Weak Forecast, Supply Chain Woes in Cook's Final Call
AAPL sits 51% above its 52-week low of $201.5.
Summary
Apple shares are down 7% today after the company issued a disappointing forecast and warned of worsening component shortages during Tim Cook's final earnings call as CEO. The selloff stands out against a broader tech rebound led by Amazon's 13% surge on strong cloud sales, and the slump is dragging on the tech sector. This follows a 6% drop in late June and adds to a string of negative headlines, including a 19% iPhone shipment decline in China and EU regulatory headwinds. The weak outlook and supply chain issues directly threaten the premium pricing strategy Apple recently implemented with 15-25% price hikes across Macs and iPads. With Cook departing, the leadership transition adds uncertainty at a time when the company is betting heavily on its new AI suite to reignite growth.
Updates
· Wiseek News — KeyBanc downgraded Apple to Underweight with a $250 target, citing slowing iPhone growth, rising component costs, and carrier subsidy risks.
· CNBC TV18 — Q3 revenue was $109.42B vs $108.65B consensus. CFO Kevan Parekh blamed supply constraints for parts, particularly impacting iPhone revenues. Barclays cut target to $245 (Underweight); JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley remain Overweight.
· Wiseek News — Q3 revenue was $109.4B, up 16% YoY, with iPhone sales up 22% to $54.25B and Services at $30.74B. Gross margin was ~50.1%. Q4 revenue guidance of +9–11% fell short. R&D spending jumped 32% YoY. TD Cowen raised its price target to $400.
· Dow Jones Newswires — Apple's decline reached 9%, wiping out roughly $470 billion in market value, the largest single-day loss on record for the company and second-largest ever for a U.S. firm.
· Benzinga — Apple fell another 9.9% Friday to $300.48, bringing the two-day post-earnings drop to about 15% and erasing over $470 billion in market cap. Gene Munster called the selloff overdone, citing supply constraints and FX headwinds.
· Benzinga — Apple's drop deepened to 9.7%, erasing about $475 billion in market cap. Gross margin guidance of 47-48% for September implies roughly 46.5%, a 280-basis-point compression across two quarters. Cook called memory pricing a '100-year flood,' with DRAM contract prices up 90-95% quarter-over-quarter entering 2026 and another 60% in Q2.
· Reuters — Apple's decline deepened to 9% from 7%.
At the time of this announcement, AAPL was trading at $303.63 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.5T. The 52-week trading range was $201.50 to $344.57. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 9 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.