Apple Inc. finished Tuesday with a valuation below $2 trillion for the first time in more than 21 months amid a continued slide in its stock that reflects concerns about the impact of production issues and the sustainability of consumer demand.
The smartphone giant was valued at $1.990 trillion as of the end of Tuesday trading. Prior to that, Apple hadn’t closed with a valuation south of $2 trillion since March 8, 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data, and its stock price hasn’t implied an intraday valuation below that level since March 30, 2021.
The slide in Apple shares
AAPL,
over the past year has shaved $996.5 billion from the company’s peak closing market capitalization.
The smartphone giant peaked with a closing valuation of $2.986 trillion exactly a year ago, on Jan. 3, 2022. More recently, the company has been dogged by questions about the impact of manufacturing issues in China, where COVID-19 curbs forced production disruptions late last year.
While the company is typically thought to have durable demand on the assumption that customers will delay purchases or put up with long delivery times in order to obtain desired Apple products, some analysts have questioned whether Apple will be able to make up for all of its lost demand in future quarters.
A Nikkei Asia report from earlier this week hinted at demand challenges. The report, which cited anonymous sources, said that Apple has told some of its suppliers to make fewer components for AirPods, Apple Watches and MacBook computers in the first quarter.
Apple didn’t respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.
Apple’s stock was the biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
Tuesday.