Apple shares are a far cry from Nasdaq. What went wrong, and who can go well.

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Stocks have lagged badly

nasdaq Composite,
But there is hope. The iPhone 15 is scheduled to be launched next month.

August has not been a kind month for the stock market. As of closing on Friday,

Nasdaq Composite
It fell 5.3% in August and was on track for its worst monthly performance of the year, according to Dow Jones Market data.

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(Stock symbol: AAPL) fell 9.1%, its first monthly decline in 2023.

As of Friday, Apple was underperforming the Nasdaq Composite by 3.8 percentage points, and was on track for its biggest monthly weak performance since November 2022.

News in early August that sales were down 1% from a year earlier in the quarter ending July 1 sent the stock lower. More importantly, Apple recorded an annual decline in sales of the iPhone, the company’s biggest revenue product. On a call to discuss the results with analysts and investors, management said there had been a decline in the US smartphone market over the past two quarters.

“Product revenue was $60.6 billion, down 4% from last year, as we faced headwinds in the foreign exchange market and an uneven macroeconomic environment,” said Luca Maestri, CFO.

Market research firm International Data Corporation said in a statement a report On August 11, worldwide smartphone shipments fell 6.8% from a year earlier in the second quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of contraction “as the market suffers from weak demand, inflation, macroeconomic uncertainty and excess inventory.”

But there is hope. Apple is expected to launch its latest iPhone 15 sometime in September. like Barron As reported, Apple’s stock historically rose in the first months after the phone’s launch. It could happen again after the release of iPhone 15.

“iPhone 15 is set to bring design and feature updates, and we believe that design changes… will not only refresh the device, but also increase the ASP (average selling price) mix through higher prices and increasingly persuade consumers to spend.” “More and buy Pro models vs. Core models,” Amit Daryanani, Evercore ISI analyst, wrote in a research note dated August 18. He valued the stock at Outperform with a price target of $210.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is also optimistic.

“(We) expect a $100-$150 price increase on the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max version, which should be digestible for many upgrade customers after major carrier promotions; “Which we estimate represents about 240 million iPhones worldwide that haven’t been upgraded in over 4 years,” Ives wrote on Aug. 15. He rates the stock on Outperform with a $230 price target.

Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]