Apple's Stock Price Takes a Hit: Is iPhone 15 the Cure?
Apple's Stock Price Takes a Hit: Is iPhone 15 the Cure?
Investors prepare for Apple’s annual event
- Apple plans to show off its new iPhone on Tuesday.
- The tech giant's stock price is coming off one of the worst weeks this year.
- Will the iPhone 15 event save Apple’s ailing stock price?
The Apple (AAPL) annual September event will kick off on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time from its Cupertino, California, headquarters. The company is likely to highlight the anticipated iPhone 15, along with other hardware releases.
The event, code named Wonderlust, will be a prerecorded video streamed on Apple’s website and YouTube and is expected to last around 90 minutes. As has been the case in previous years, the event will be watched by millions and can have a notable impact on the stock price.
Apple has had a rough few weeks. Buying opportunity or warning?
Apple stock has had a rough few weeks, plagued by a potential move out of Beijing to ban the use of iPhones by government and government-backed companies. While it is likely to have a minimal impact on sales, it signals a dark path for the company in the world’s second-largest economy, with future and more restrictive actions probably on the horizon.
Further complicating matters is an agreement Apple made with Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) that extends out-of-house chip manufacturing for Apple products. The statement from Qualcomm says that the agreement will last through the 2026 smartphone cycle.
Qualcomm shares jumped on the news, rising nearly 4% in mid-day Wall Street trading. Apple has been planning to develop its own chips for years, even acquiring Intel’s smartphone chip segment in 2019. But the Qualcomm deal shows that Apple is having trouble putting the plan into action.
Will Wonderlust save the ailing stock price?
Apple stock fell 5.95% last week, marking its second-worst weekly performance of the year. So, will Wonderlust save Apple’s stock price? That all comes down to how consumers react to the new product launch on Tuesday. Apple has a solid track record of wooing people with these events, and its stock price saw modest gains after last year’s event.
The company is likely to unveil its next major software update in IOS 17, and we may also see a new and improved Apple Watch. However, how the iPhone 15 is perceived will be key. One of the biggest changes will likely replace the lightning charging port with the USB-C standard—a move probably driven by legislation in the European Union.
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, the two premium versions of the iPhone 15, may favor a titanium frame instead of aluminum, according to rumors. That could make the iPhone lighter and stronger at the same time. And, of course, a better camera is also expected, which could feature optical zooming up to 6X, which would be double the prior model’s capability.
Apple Price Chart
Looking at Apple’s daily price chart, the stock is trading below its 100-day simple moving average (SMA) after last week’s action. If prices manage to trade back above the SMA, it could help to restore confidence and continue the preceding uptrend. Otherwise, bears could push prices towards the 200-day SMA that currently trades around the 164 level.
Thomas Westwater, a tastylive financial writer and analyst, has eight years of markets and trading experience. @fxwestwater
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