Apple Inc (AAPL)

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Apple’s stock underperformed top tech peers in 2023 due to longest revenue slide in 22 years
Friday, December 29, 2023 10:01 am
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In 2023, Apple suffered its longest revenue slide in 22 years, reporting four straight quarters of declining sales. Consequently, Apple’s stock underperformed top tech companies for the year.

Kif Leswing for CNBC:

Apple’s stock rallied in 2023, but its performance was outshined by all of its mega-cap tech peers, as the company suffered four straight quarters of declining revenue.

Apple didn’t release new iPad models in 2023, the first time that’s happened in a calendar year since the product was launched in 2010. Without new models, Apple has less to promote, and older versions of the product don’t see official price cuts that boost sales.

Earlier this month, all current model iPads were shipping from Apple’s website in a day, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. That’s a sign of weak demand… To make matters worse, new Apple Watch models were removed from Apple stores in the U.S. days before Christmas over an intellectual property dispute. After a late December appeal, the devices have been returned to store shelves, but Morgan Stanley analysts estimate Apple lost about $135 million in sales per day during the brief ban.

Sales of Macs fell nearly 27% to $10.2 billion in fiscal 2023.

Looking overseas, Apple would like to see an easing of tensions between the U.S. and China.

In 2023, Apple made significant progress diversifying its centers of production away from mainland China and into countries like Vietnam and India. But its moves to expand its supply chain appear to have awakened an impulse in the Chinese government to classify Apple as a foreign company.

MacDailyNews Take: Not the greatest year, especially vs. other top tech companies. Hopefully, 2024 will deliver new energy to the company.

https://macdailynews.com/2023/12/29/apples-stock-underperformed-top-tech-peers-in-2023-due-to-longest-revenue-slide-in-22-years/