Tech giant Apple (AAPL) should be front of mind for a lot of people right now. With its new iPhone line about to emerge and a panoply of technological developments coming along with it, it should be at its most attractive. But with Apple down over 3% in Monday afternoon’s trading, and analysts pointing to an emperor distinctly lacking in clothing, the exact impact of this new line is now very much in question.
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This time last week, Apple was on top of the world. It won a street-high price target, but as it turned out, this gain was unsustainable. Word from TF Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo noted that demand for the iPhone 16 is slumping. It is actually down 12% against this time last year when the iPhone 15 emerged.
One of the biggest problems, Kuo elaborated, was that there simply is not much reason to buy in right now. One of Apple’s biggest upcoming features, Apple Intelligence, will not actually be available until sometime next month. And even then, it will only be available in beta. While there would still be quite a bit of reason to buy in, some shoppers may be delaying their purchase. And there remains the possibility that some quantity of shoppers are simply staying out of Apple for a while, letting their current phone continue to work.
Sleep Apnea Feature Gets FDA Approval
One major issue that cropped up throughout the two-hour dog-and-pony show that Apple put on was that several key features were unavailable because they had not cleared the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval. That has changed, however, with one key front: the sleep apnea detection feature.
Now, the new Apple Watch will be able to detect “breathing disturbances,” as they are called, and correlate them accordingly to produce at least some insight into the condition. Thus, people are more likely to catch it sooner and use that information to treat the condition. That, in turn, may prevent other conditions from occurring later on, and all from a feature on an Apple Watch.
Is Apple a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 23 Buys, eight Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 21.62% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $249.46 per share implies 15.73% upside potential.
