Apple dips below a $1 trillion valuation

Apple CEO Tim
Cook
Getty/Chip
Somodevilla

• Apple
  on Thursday reported underwhelming iPhone sales and gave soft
  guidance for the holiday quarter.
• Shares fell more than 7%, pushing the company’s market cap
  below $1 trillion.
• Watch
  Apple trade live.

Apple
on Friday lost its $1 trillion valuation as shares fell more than
7%, to a low of $206.66, following its disappointing
fourth-quarter results. 

The tech giant reported underwhelming iPhone sales and
gave soft guidance for its crucial holiday
quarter, sending shares below the $207.45 price that was needed
to hold the mark. It’s possible that the per share price need to
break the $1 trillion valuation is lower due to buybacks. Apple
crossed the
$1 trillion mark in August — a first for a US company — after
reporting strong second-quarter results.

Shares peaked at a valuation of $1.121 trillion on October 3, but
fell as much as 11% as the broader stock market came under
pressure in October. The company briefly lost its $1 trillion
valuation last month as shares dipped to a low of $206.09.

And while Apple’s disappointing results were notable, Wall Street
seemed to be focusing on something that occurred on the earnings
call. That’s when the company said it would no longer reveal unit sales for
its hardware, drawing the ire of some Wall Street analysts.

“The ‘jaw dropper’ last night was when Apple announced it will
stop providing units/ASPs for iPhones, Macs and its other product
lines,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote.

“The Street will find this a tough pill to swallow this morning
as the transparency of the Cupertino story takes a major dent
given that tracking iPhone units has become habitual to any
investor that has closely followed the Apple story for the last
decade+ and is critical to the thesis.”

Ives maintained his $310 price target and “outperform” rating.

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