Apple Falls On Report Of iPhone X Weakness: 'High-End Smartphones Clearly Hitting A Plateau This Year'

Apple Inc. AAPL shares fell marginally but sharply Tuesday afternoon when JPMorgan reported findings suggesting weakening iPhone X orders.

Analyst Narci Chang forecasted the iPhone X is down 50 percent since the last quarter and, as a result, sliced first-quarter sales estimates for the product by 33 percent. What’s more, Chang proposed the unit has peaked more quickly than imagined.

“We believe the weakness will continue in 1H18 as high-end smartphones are clearly hitting a plateau this year,” Chang wrote in a note.

The weakness is expected to stunt Apple supplier earnings. JPMorgan accordingly cut its first-quarter forecasts for Win Semi, Merry, Largan, Hon Hai and AAC; lowered its full-year targets for LGI and downgraded Sony to Neutral.

“We still like suppliers with long-term content growth potential, but would like to caution 1H18 weakness and saturated growth for high-end iPhones,” Chang said. “...Our top picks in the Apple supply chain are Win Semi, Merry, Flexium and Murata, which have visibility into content upgrades into 2018 iPhones.”

Meanwhile, the analyst views MediaTek and TSMC winning suppliers among semiconductors and Pegatron leading electronics manufacturing services.

At time of publication, Apple was continuing to trend downward and rested slightly up on the session at $177.36.

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Photo courtesy of Apple.