Why Apple Investors Shouldn't Worry About This Sell-Off

Apple Inc. AAPL stock is down more than 2 percent Wednesday after Rosenblatt Securities released note suggesting iPhone 8 preorders are relatively weak compared to market expectations, as well as poor reviews of the new Apple Watch.

But before Apple investors panic over the sell-off, it’s important to keep the iPhone news and the subsequent market move in proper perspective.

On Tuesday night, Loup Ventures founder and former Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told CNBC that, with Apple stock up roughly 40 percent prior to the iPhone 8 launch, the stock was long-due for a 5 to 10 percent technical correction.

“I tend to still believe we’ll get this pullback,” Munster said. “Once we get past the excitement of the preorders around the iPhone X, I think there’ll be naturally some concern about [what] the March quarter and June quarter look like next year.”

At the end of the day, Munster said the most important factor for Apple and its long-term investors is that the iPhone is still the best phone in the world and Apple’s augmented reality technology will lead the next generation of mobile innovation.

From a technical standpoint, the post-iPhone event pullback has Apple testing a major near-term support level on Wednesday. After the morning selloff, Apple is hovering around the $155 level that served as support on three separate occasions in August. Prior to that time, $155 served as resistance in both May and June.

If Apple closes Wednesday’s session above $155, it would be a good sign for Apple bulls. A pullback from all-time highs to Wednesday morning’s low of $158.26 would represent a modest 4.0 percent. However, if Apple closes below $155, the high end of Munster’s 5 to 10 percent range suggests the stock could be headed as low as $148 before finding support.

Joel Elconin contributed to this story.

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