Hong Kong Stock Market News | Apple Concept Stocks Continue to Decline, FIH Drops Over 6% Due to Concerns Over Insufficient Apple Demand.
Apple concept stocks continue to decline, with FIH, COWELL, and Sunny Optical Technology experiencing significant drops. Piper Sandler, an American investment institution, downgraded Apple's rating to "Neutral" due to concerns about insufficient demand for Apple products. Barclays analyst also downgraded Apple's stock rating to "Underweight". Foxconn's sales declined by 5.4% last year, and it is expected that sales will continue to decline this quarter, intensifying concerns about the sales momentum of the latest generation of Apple products. Counterpoint Research predicts that Apple's sales may decline in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Zhitong App learned that Apple concept stocks continued their recent decline. As of the time of writing, FIH (02038) fell 6.67% to HKD 0.56; COWELL (01415) fell 3.98% to HKD 20.5; Sunny Optical Technology (02382) fell 2.86% to HKD 61.15; BYD ELECTRONIC (00285) fell 2.45% to HKD 33.9; Q Technology (01478) fell 1.07% to HKD 3.69.
On the news front, Piper Sandler, an American investment firm, recently downgraded Apple's rating from "Buy" to "Neutral" due to concerns about Apple's inventory levels and the growth rate of sales. Due to the weakening macro environment, Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar predicts that Apple will face challenges. He also emphasized the impact of high interest rates on Apple's overall performance. Previously, Barclays analyst Tim Long also downgraded Apple's stock rating to "Sell". Investment bank Baird recently stated that Apple's stock price may be overvalued, although the bank still has a positive long-term outlook for Apple.
In addition, data shows that Foxconn's sales in the fourth quarter of last year fell by 5.4% to TWD 1.85 trillion, with December sales plummeting by 27% to TWD 460.1 billion. Foxconn currently expects sales to decline this quarter as well. This has heightened concerns about the momentum of the latest generation of Apple entering the new year. Counterpoint Research previously reported that Apple, which usually leads the market in the fourth quarter with its new iPhone series, is expected to see a 3% YoY decline in sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, mainly due to Huawei's expansion in the Chinese market and the extended replacement cycle of Japanese smartphones.