Feb 29, 2024,03:41pm EST
TOPLINE Shares of Apple dipped Thursday to their lowest closing share price in almost four months, marking an uneasy stretch for the stock as investors hitch their wagons to Apple’s big technology peers who appear more readily positioned to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom.
Apple Store in Grand Central Terminal in New York City
Apple stock is amid a dim stretch. GETTY IMAGES
KEY FACTS
Apple stock fell about 1% to below $180 for the first time since Nov. 7, moving against solid gains by the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes, while shares of each of the five other companies in the $1 trillion market capitalization club gained 0.7% or more Thursday.
The slip comes as questions linger about Apple’s AI initiatives as the likes of Microsoft deliver tangible earnings growth tied to the burgeoning technology, underscored by a Tuesday report that Apple is abandoning its decade-long electric car project – an undertaking Apple CEO Tim Cook dubbed the “mother of all AI projects” in 2017.
Apple shares have fallen 3% over the first two months of 2024, far short of the S&P and Nasdaq’s 7% and 9% respective gains.
Long heralded for its market-beating returns, Apple has provided a worse return to investors than the S&P on a 6-month, 12-month and 2-year basis, according to FactSet data.
KEY BACKGROUND
Apple represents a wildly successful investment on a longer-term basis, as its nearly 36% annualized total return over the last two decades far outpaces the S&P’s 10% annual return. Apple, which was the world’s most valuable company by market cap for most of 2021 to 2023, ceded its most valuable crown to Microsoft in January. The changing of the guard comes as Microsoft’s top-line and bottom-line growth far outpaces Apple’s, which reported negative sales and profit growth during its fiscal year ending in September. Cook teased at a Wednesday shareholder meeting Apple is “investing significantly” in generative AI and will have more details on its initiatives later this year. UBS analyst David Vogt said this week he expects Apple to roll out its first major AI announcement in June at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference. In addition to AI headwinds, expectations over weak iPhone sales growth cloud Apple’s stock; iPhone sales accounted for 58% of Apple’s total revenues last quarter.
CONTRA
Apple’s wind down of its EV project is actually a “net positive” as it allows the firm to rededicate its talent to generative AI products more likely to hit the market and demonstrates Apple’s “cost discipline,” Morgan Stanley analysts led by Erik Woodring wrote to clients earlier this week.
FURTHER READING
Not So Magnificent Seven: Big Tech Stocks That Led 2023's Rally Are On Different Trajectories (Forbes)
Apple Is Behind in AI—and Investors Are Getting Impatient (Wall Street Journal)
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Thursday, February 29. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine
Katya Soldak
Forbes Staff
Forbes Ukraine
Forbes Staff
Feb 29, 2024,07:10pm EST
ALBANIA-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-WAR-CONFLICT-BALKANS-SUMMIT
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as [+]
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 735
Sumy region. Russian shelling of the Knotyn district on February 27 killed two policemen and wounded at least four others. A team of officers was documenting the aftermath of Russia’s earlier bombardment of a local farm when the shelling struck. One of the victims was Lt. Col. Oksana Novyk, a chairman of the war crimes investigation unit, known for risking her life while documenting such events.
Kharkiv region. The latest Russian attack on the town of Kupiansk on February 28 killed two civilians, including a local pastor, and wounded five other persons. It also damaged homes, infrastructure and a local church.
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 10 Russian fighter jets in February as well as an advanced A-50 surveillance plane and two other aircraft. Seven of the jets were Su-34 fighter-bombers, workhorse aircraft of the Russian army, of which three went down in a single day. Before the invasion two years ago, Russia officially listed approximately 140 Su-34s in active service. Despite the recent losses, Russia’s air force has ample stocks of military jets, Ukrainian aviation expert Valery Romanenko believes. “That’s why we need new Western air defense systems to help us offset Russia’s air superiority,” he argues. “I hope that we will be able to strengthen our air defense system with a new batch of Patriot [anti-aircraft] systems.”
In response to the Czech Republic’s initiative to deliver more than 800,000 artillery shells to Ukraine, the Netherlands plans to invest 100 million euros for the purchase of shells. “We know that Putin is gearing up for a long war. We need to keep showing that we are steadfast and that time is not on his side,” said Dutch President Mark Rutte at the Paris Conference held by French leader Emmanuel Macron on February 26. Earlier this month, Czech President Petr Pavel announced that his government “has found the way” to acquire half a million 155mm shells and 300,000 122mm shells for Ukraine but requires NATO funding to close the deal and provide Kyiv with the ammunition in a matter of weeks.
French President Macron suggested at the Paris Conference on February 26 that NATO should not exclude deploying troops in Ukraine if security needs justify that action. Other NATO members, including the United States, Britain and Germany, immediately announced that they oppose any such deployment, and no NATO member has supported Macron's idea. In response to Macron's speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned once again that any deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine would risk direct conflict with Russia, including nuclear war.
Ukraine's security services warn of Russia’s ongoing psychological warfare “Maidan-3" operation, aimed at disrupting military support for Ukraine and eventually breaking the country’s military forces in June of this year. Through a combination of planned sabotage actions, information warfare and deliberate distractions, Russia is attempting to weaken Ukraine both domestically and internationally. Ukrainian experts believe that Russia, expecting that its forces will succeed on the eastern front by June, will bring the operation to a peak from March to May.
“The goal of the Russians inside Ukraine is to demoralize Ukrainians, sow panic among the population, drive a wedge between the military and civilians, and put everyone at odds with everyone, including representatives of the country’s political leadership and civil society,” said the Ukrainian President's Intelligence Committee in a recent statement. “The main directions and goals of the enemy are to spread disinformation about Ukraine’s inability to win and create and spread fakes about ‘fatigue’ among [our] partners and allies in the world. The Russians’ global international goal is to reduce support for our country from the pro-Ukrainian coalition in the world.” According to the security services' sources, Moscow has poured $250 million into promoting an anti-Ukrainian agenda on the Telegram platform alone. The estimated total budget of “Maidan-3” is $1.5 billion.
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