Apple stock price slides amid mounting fears of smartphone slowdown

Getty/Justin Sullivan

• Apple slid 2% early Tuesday.
• Cirrus Logic, one of Apple’s suppliers, cut its revenue guidance for the third quarter of 2019, and HSBC downgraded Apple, citing a slowdown in smartphone cycle.
• Watch Apple trade live.

Apple shares fell 2% early Tuesday after one of its suppliers cut its guidance for 2019 and a Wall Street firm downgraded the stock, exacerbating concerns about what’s seen as a slowdown in the tech mammoth’s iPhone cycle. 

The semiconductor manufacturer Cirrus Logic said Monday evening that it expected third-quarter revenue to come in lower than previously forecast, citing “recent weakness in the smartphone market.”

The company said in a release that it expected revenue of between $300 million and $340 million, compared to its previous expectation of a range between $360 million and $400 million.

Cirrus Logic is one of a growing roster of Apple suppliers to cut their own forecasts due to waning smartphone demand. Last month, Austria-based AMS cut its revenue forecast, and other suppliers like Lumentum and British chip manufacturer IQE tempered their own expectations.

The suppliers’ reports come amid sweeping concern on Wall Street that Apple is experiencing a slump in the smartphone market, and that its best days are behind it.

Tuesday morning, HSBC analysts downgraded the stock in an in-depth analysis, citing overwhelming dependence on a single product.

Apple said last month in its quarterly earnings report that it would no longer disclose how many iPhones, iPads, and Macs sold each quarter, an announcement that slammed the stock.

Wall Street analysts are concerned. Goldman Sachs, for its part, cut its price target on the stock three times in November, the last of which came after the Wall Street Journal reported the company slashed production orders for all three iPhones models launched in September. 

Apple shares were up 5% this year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500.