Advertisement

Apple’s reign as world’s most valuable stock by market value in jeopardy from bumpy 2024 start

  • Shares of Apple fell 0.4 per cent on Friday after a report that the US Justice Department is closer to filing an antitrust case against the company
  • The tech giant has seen about US$177 billion in market value erased so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
People walk past an Apple Store in the Glendale Galleria shopping mall in California on December 26, 2023. Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Apple just had its worst start to the year by one measure, as investors react to mounting pressures on the company, putting its long-standing status as the world’s most valuable stock by market value in jeopardy.

Shares of the technology giant fell 0.4 per cent on Friday to close at about US$181 after The New York Times reported that the US Justice Department is closer to filing an antitrust case against the company.

The decline notched the fifth consecutive negative day for Apple, its longest losing streak since October.

The potential antitrust case against Apple “would add to the plethora of problems it faces, from slowing iPhone sales to Apple Watch patent issues”, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Anurag Rana wrote in a note. “The suit could attack Apple’s business model of tightly integrating its devices and services.”
Shoppers inside an Apple Store in Walnut Creek, California, on December 20, 2023. Apple’s stock was hit by two ratings downgrades ahead of the company’s December-quarter earnings report. Photo: Bloomberg
Shoppers inside an Apple Store in Walnut Creek, California, on December 20, 2023. Apple’s stock was hit by two ratings downgrades ahead of the company’s December-quarter earnings report. Photo: Bloomberg

The Cupertino, California-based company has been the world’s most valuable publicly-listed company since July 2022, but has seen about US$177 billion in market value erased so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While the stock has suffered bigger percentage declines in the first week of January, the losses are the biggest market value destruction at the start of any year on record.

Advertisement