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The stock fell 2.4%, ending at its lowest since November in a broad selloff of technology shares. It dropped 5.2% for the week, the fifth straight week of losses, declining more than 10% over that period. The Nasdaq 100 Index slid 2.1% and posted a weekly loss of 3.9%.
Tech stocks have come under pressure this year on concern growth will slow as the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused commodity prices to jump and heightened worries about inflation, has also weighed on the group.
Apple remains a relative outperformer so far this year. Its loss of nearly 13% is less than the Nasdaq 100’s 18% drop. Investors have gravitated toward it as something of a haven, although that hasn’t been enough to offset the macroeconomic factors that are expected to continue weighing on the sector.
“Investors see macro indicators pointing to a slowdown, and Apple is getting swept up in that broad selling,” said Jordan Kahn, chief investment officer of ACM Funds. “I don’t think tech is in a position where it will immediately bounce back, but even if Apple is unlikely to see a lot of multiple expansion from here, it shouldn’t see much compression either, given the stability of its earnings and the growth in its services business.”
Apple is trading at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 6.2, compared with its five-year average of 4.6. The forward P/E is 24.5, above the long-term average of 20.3.
Kahn, whose fund owns the stock, described this valuation as “more neutral than compelling, which does make it something of a safety play, as there are parts of tech that saw bubble-like multiples and should continue to see compression.”
(Updates to market close.)
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
