Apple (AAPL) stock outperformed in 2023 despite posting four straight quarters of declining sales. But without positive catalysts, it is likely to drop in 2024, a Wall Street analyst says.

Apple is known as the world’s most valuable company, but the multi-trillion-dollar tech behemoth is seeing slower growth. Apple stock has essentially only kept pace with the S&P 500 since August 2020, and the consumer electronics giant may no longer be the apple of investors’ eyes. Experts say there’s no growth story for Apple, and investors are looking for the next catalyst. So are the company’s glory days over?” vid-name=”Apple Stock Is Not The Money Tree It Once Was. What Will Make It Grow?” vid-cat=”Industry Insights” vid-date=”10/30/2023″ vid-date-tmsp=”1698669751″ vid-image=”https://www.investors.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/r9pm9WPQ-640×360.jpg” vid-authors=”MEREDITH HEYMAN”>
X

Barclays analyst Tim Long on Tuesday downgraded Apple stock to underweight, or sell, from equal weight, or neutral. He also trimmed his price target to 160 from 161.

In premarket trading on the stock market today, Apple stock fell 1.7% to 189.27.

In a client note, Long said sales of Apple’s iPhone 15 smartphones have been “lackluster” and the upcoming iPhone 16 “should be the same.”

Plus, other hardware categories remain weak for Apple and services sales probably won’t grow more than 10% this year.

“We expect reversion after a year when most quarters were missed and the stock outperformed,” Long said.

Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Smart Home Stock Alarm.com Rises After Scoring Legal Settlement

Microsoft’s AI-Powered Copilots Called ‘Game Changing’

‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ Anticipation Is Boosting Use Of Older GTA Games

See Stocks On The List Of Leaders Near A Buy Point

Find Winning Stocks With MarketSmith Pattern Recognition & Custom Screens