Apple shares sank about 9% at the start of trading Thursday, a day after the company issued a rare earnings warning that it chalked up largely to sluggish iPhone sales in China.
Apple surprised Wall Street on Wednesday afternoon after the market closed by issuing revised guidance for its fourth quarter in a letter from CEO Tim Cook to investors. The tech behemoth had projected total revenue for the quarter to come in around $91 billion but now is forecasting about $84 billion.
Apple’s stock price hovered around the $143-$145 mark in the first few minutes of trading, down about 9% from Wednesday’s closing price of $157.92. In pre-market trading, shares were also down about 9%.
Apple’s first instance of revised earnings guidance since 2002 has the potential to rattle the financial markets as it puts the spotlight on China’s woes and the dependence of the largest U.S. companies on strong growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Apple’s decline dragged down the Dow Jones Industrial Average index on Thursday. The Dow has been on a wild ride in recent weeks. It was essentially flat at closing on Wednesday but was down more than 300 points, or 1.5%, in the first half-hour of trading Thursday.
Apple’s tech peers saw modest declines in a down market but not on the same scale as the Apple sell off. Netflix was just barely into green territory. Most of the traditional media conglomerates were also down slightly or flat to start but some gained ground as the morning wore on, notably Comcast, CBS and Netflix.
More to come