It was a busy day for Apple Shares (AAPL) as the stock ran into technical resistance after a flurry of headlines this morning.
The headlines started this morning with Reuters reporting that Apple is no longer the top smartphone provider in China. Apples share of the market has been in decline over the last year as Huawei and Xiaomi have been increasing competition.
Huawei has quickly been pressuring Apple in China especially after developing its own HarmonyOS and Kirin chips to reduce reliance on U.S. technology. The company’s The Mate and P-series flagship smartphones directly compete with the iPhone in premium segments.
Reuters also reported that Apple is in discussions with Barclays (BCS) and Synchrony Financial (SYF) to replace Goldman Sachs (GS) credit card partnership.
Goldman Sachs has been working to exit its Apple Card partnership for over a year, with serious discussions starting in early 2023. Reports emerged in mid-2023 that the bank was actively seeking to unwind its consumer finance operations, including the Apple Card deal.
Finally, Barron’s covered Apple stocks with a cautious outlook. This is the second publication in as many weeks to indicate that Apple’s upcoming earnings report may be cause for concern for investors.
Apple stock is on track for its lowest close since late November after finding resistance near its 50-day moving average on Thursday.
Shares dropped more than 11% from their December highs to land at $230 on Monday. The stock made a fast attempt to overcome it’s 50-day moving average on Wednesday only to see its three-day progress evaporate.
Investors now need to look for the stock’s next support level with shares of Apple breaking through round-number support at $230.
From a technical perspective, the next reasonable support for Apple will come in to play at $220 and the stock’s 200-day moving average (216.40). A move to this level will salso begin shifting Apple’s short-term momentum heavily against the stock.
The technical situation puts Apple shares into a must-win situation with its earnings results set to be released on January 30.
Apple shares remain in a long-term bullish trend however investors should consider the stock’s outlook as cautiously bearish for the short-term.
