Apple shares move higher after steep two-day sell-off
Investing.com -- Shares in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) climbed in early U.S. trading on Friday, paring back some losses from two straight days of declines that wiped around $200 billion off of the tech giant's market value.
Media reports suggesting that government officials in China have been barred from using Apple’s iPhone and other foreign-branded mobile devices at work have sparked concerns that Beijing is willing to sideline American companies in favor of Chinese players. China is a crucial market for Apple, with the country accounting for nearly a fifth of its total sales.
Observers have warned that such a move, which has yet to be confirmed by either the Chinese government or Apple, could signal a deepening in ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Recently, some U.S. lawmakers have called for a blanket ban on tech exports to China, citing a breach of recent trade restrictions by two companies: Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (HK:0981).
However, analysts at Morgan Stanley argued that it is «unlikely» that the reported iPhone ban will «evolve into something broader.»
“In a worst case scenario, we see 4% revenue and 3% [earnings per share] downside, suggesting the stock move is overdone,” the Morgan Stanley analysts added.
Meanwhile, California-based Apple, which is gearing up to launch the latest model of the iPhone next week, faces fresh competition from a new family of high-end smartphones made by Chinese rival Huawei. Analysts at Citi said the launch of Huawei's Mate 60 gadget presents a «headline risk» for the company's shares.
The roughly 6% slide in Apple's stock price over the previous two sessions this week was felt in trading on Wall Street on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq
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