Apple just hit a new 52-week low
Apple (AAPL) investors wondering how ugly the stock can get got another taste Friday.
Shares of gadget maker -- not long ago a must-own by both individual and professional investors -- dropped further Friday to notch a new intraday 52-week low of $91.85. That undercut the previous low of $92 a share set during a vicious market selloff on Aug. 24, 2015 when the Dow had fallen more than 1,000 points during the session. Apple shares have rebounded from the new 52-week low and are now trading for $92.44.
But the damage is done. Apple shares are under intense pressure as investors worry the smartphone market has matured and growth is stalling - much like the PC market. Apple posted a nearly 13% decline in revenue in the first quarter, the first drop since the third quarter of 2009 and the biggest drop since the third quarter of 2001. Shares of Apple have lost more than a quarter of their value during the past year despite bullish price targets from analysts. Activist investor Carl Icahn, a long-time fan of the stock who predicted the company would be the first to be valued at $1 trillion, has since said he sold all his shares.
Hopes that the latest update of the next Apple smartphone would reinvigorate growth are fading. Demand for the next version of the Apple smartphone is better than the previous one, but less than the one before that, according to an analysis by Steven Milunovich, analyst at UBS. "Interest in the iPhone 7 is better than for the 6s though not as strong as for the 6 and upgrade cycles appear shorter in the US and China though not in other countries," Milunovich says in a note to clients.
Apple is still worth about $510 billion, making it the most valuable stock in the Standard & Poor's 500. Analysts also remain steadfastly positive on the stock, thinking it will be worth $124.33 a share in 18 months and one of the biggest potential drivers of the Dow Jones industrial average.
Google's Alphabet (GOOGL), however, is rapidly closing the gap. Alphabet is worth almost $490 billion. And Apple investors are losing big time as more than $230 billion in shareholder wealth has been erased over the past 12 months.
Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz