At least eight firms lowered their price objectives
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was last seen down 1.1% at $175.63. While the tech behemoth’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat estimates, sales fell for the fourth consecutive quarter. The company’s holiday outlook also missed expectations as demand for its wearable products and iPads waned.
Analysts are slamming AAPL with price-target cuts. At least eight firms slashed their price objectives, with the lowest coming from Barclays to $161 from $166. Goldman Sachs also raised its objective to $227 from $213, however. Currently, the stock’s 12-month consensus target price of $196.59 is still a 12.5% premium to current levels.
The equity is facing pressure at its 80-day moving average, which rejected a mid-October rally. Shares are today looking to snap a five-day win streak, but remain up 35.2% for the year.
Options volume is running at four times the intraday average, with 349,000 calls and 267,000 puts across the tape so far. Most popular is the 11/3 177.50-strike call, which expires at the close.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AAPL sports a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.21 that ranks higher than 97% of annual readings. This means these traders are firmly bearish.