What's Eating Apple?

1	What's Eating Apple?
2	Is Apple's stock just bruised or is there a worm in it?
3	Apple has lost more $100 billion of its market capitalization in recent months.
4	Apple, the most valuable company in the world, is losing juice in the stock market like one of its early iPhone batteries.
5	The company's stock has dropped more than 15 percent from the all-time high it reached in April, shaving more than $100 billion of its market capitalization.
6	This week alone, Apple shares have fallen from $121 when the market opened on Monday to a low of $113 on Wednesday morning before slightly recovering.
7	The company's stock reached an all-time high of approximately $133 this year, so analysts have been trying to crack why the darling of Wall Street is declining.
8	The simple explanation could be that what comes up must come down.
9	Wall Street is in the sixth year of a bull market, for instance, but even this period of expansion has seen several corrections as the market optimism lets off steam.
10	The big questions are whether the stock decline reflects a long-term problem with Apple, and when the decline will end.
11	The last major contraction in Apple stock lasted seven months beginning in September 2012 and ending in April 2013, resulting in a 40 percent decline, says James Stack, president of InvesTech Research, a financial advisory firm.
12	"It could drop to under $100 per share during the next few months, which would be considered a normal consolidative contraction," he says.
13	Apple is known worldwide as the creator of the Apple Watch, the iPad and the iPhone, but its greatest strength as a company is also its weakness.
14	The company must periodically release new versions of its hardware and does not have a significant subscription-based source of income if those devices don't meet expectations, he says.
15	The recently launched Apple Music streaming service is an attempt to generate a base of paid subscriptions for the company, but reviews so far have been mixed.
16	"To have a stronger predefined revenue stream converted to income source like Apple Music or other subscription services would certainly help take away that dependence on devices," Stack says.
17	Where Apple might get its next spurt of growth is also a source of angst for investors.
18	The tech giant has gained a foothold in China, hoping to profit from its growing middle class, but the iPhone is lagging in third place in that nation behind rival smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi, according to a report from Canalys market analysis firm.
19	Apple reported that 25 percent of its total sales during its most recent quarter were made in China.
20	The recent slowdown in that important economy may also be a factor harming sales for many tech and consumer companies.
21	The tech giant tried to entice consumers in emerging markets with its trimmed-down iPhone 5c, but the company failed to attract much interest in part because the phone was expensive compared with lower cost options.
22	Without a wireless contract the iPhone 5C cost $549 when it debuted in 2013.
23	Apple CEO Tim Cook has worked to prove himself a reliable leader of the tech giant since the death of its co-founder Steve Jobs in part by expanding beyond the iPhone.
24	Apple is working on developing an electric car, for instance, and working with auto companies on Internet-connection features for cars.
25	Wall Street has shown increasing patience and optimism in tech stocks, as evidenced by the large amount of Internet companies going public, but there is also a cautionary tale in Microsoft.
26	Once the undisputed tech titan--and Apple's main rival--the company is itself struggling to find a new direction.
27	It could just be that once youthful tech companies do not age gracefully.
28	Or, the answer to Apple's stock woes, could be just the simple truth that the market often loses it love for a stock.
29	"Every stock that appreciates a great deal, especially a darling of Wall Street like Apple, will inevitably correct itself," Stack says.