Apple shares fall the most since late January 2014 on Friday, iPhone sales in India expected to shrink for first time in 4 years

According to a Saturday report by Hong Kong-based industry research firm Counterpoint, iPhone sales in India are expected to shrink by nearly 25% during the fourth quarter, which would mark their first full-year slump in four years.

Apple shares closed lower for the fourth time in the past eleven trading sessions on NASDAQ on Friday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since January 28th 2014. The stock went down 6.63% ($14.74) to $207.48, after touching an intraday low at $205.43, or a price level not seen since August 8th ($204.52).

Shares of Apple Inc have surged 22.60% so far in 2018 compared with a 1.85% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, Apple’s stock gained 46.11%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

According to Counterpoint’s research director Neil Shah, the firm’s channel checks suggested sales numbers within the range of 700 000-800 000 devices during the fourth quarter compared to almost 1 million in the year-ago period.

Apple was on track to sell nearly 2 million iPhones for the entire 2018, or almost 1 million fewer devices compared to 2017, Shah said.

“If you look at Q3 – it was 900k last year and this (year) is almost 450k,” Neil Shah was quoted as saying by Reuters. “Iphones have gone costlier and the features and specs aren’t that compelling. The install base of android has grown vastly; the new customer base (for Apple) is not coming,” he pointed out.

Over half of the devices sold in 2018 were older models of iPhones, Shah said. He also noted that high selling prices suggested that Apple’s revenue from Indian market would still be flat or slightly higher in comparison with 2017.

According to CNN Money, the 34 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $242.00, with a high estimate of $310.00 and a low estimate of $165.00. The median estimate represents a 16.64% upside compared to the closing price of $207.48 on November 2nd.

The same media also reported that 23 out of 40 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 13 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $211.76
R1 – $218.08
R2 – $228.68
R3 – $235.00
R4 – $241.32

S1 – $201.16
S2 – $194.84
S3 – $184.24
S4 – $173.64