Wall Street’s largest stock, Apple, came under pressure again Thursday as a sell-off in tech stocks extended into another day.
The company’s shares have fallen more than 3% since Monday, pushing them 10% below a record high set earlier this month. Rising yields, coupled with higher inflation expectations, have taken a bite out of tech stocks like Apple – inflation means future profits are worth less and sky-high valuations are more difficult to justify.
It could get even worse for Apple with yields on the rise, warns Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management.
“The 10-year, it looks like it’s heading towards 2% and that is very, very toxic for Apple on a long-term basis,” Schlossberg told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday.
He added that higher interest rates are just one of the issues facing Apple’s stock.
“I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Apple becomes the next Microsoft of the early aughts. Remember when in the early aughts Microsoft was making money, it was a very, very productive, profitable company but the stock languished for a decade,” he said.
Microsoft shares fell more than 45% from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2009. Schlossberg said Apple may not perform as badly but could enter a stretch of consolidation.
“It’s a combination of the fact that there’s no really new sexy business unless there was an e-car business that has been rumored about and even that is going to be a punt until they actually produce something, and the fact that the interest rate environment now is definitely sharply turned against them,” he said. “You’re going to have multiple compression irrespective of the fact that profits may still be quite good.”
Mark Newton, global head of technical strategy at Fundstrat, sees short-term weakness for Apple ahead.
“We could see potentially another 5% lower into October. We remain in a very seasonally weak time,” Newton said during the same interview. “The stock really hasn’t shown sufficient stabilization to argue that it’s really ripe to buy dips just yet.”
He highlights several key technical levels that investors ought to watch. The first, $134.50, lines right up with its 200-day moving average and the second at $137 aligns with former April highs. Both could signal a buying opportunity over the next month.
“However, I don’t think we’re there just yet because I do still think, to your point, interest rates are going to continue to creep up so that could be a real negative for technology in the short run,” he said.
Apple traded at $142.80 on Thursday afternoon.
