Apple’s stock is off by US$10, or 3%, thanks in part to this morning’s downgrade from JMP. That’s more than twice what the NASDAQ is off.
Apple was downgraded by JMP Securities this morning from “market outperform to market perform.” The research group says, “a notable deceleration in its primary manufacturing partner Hon Hai.” Hon Hai sales growth is decelerating, suggesting Apple’s business could follow.
(Hon Hai is the parent of Foxconn, Apple’s notorious manufacturer.)
What’s more, JMP thinks iPhone sales could just be in line with expectations this year. It also sees iPad sales eating into Mac sales (though I’ve seen no evidence that this is happening.).
In fact, as noted by “Business Insider” (http://macte.ch/zkC2E), most analysts on Wall Street think Apple is buy. Also, the theory that slow growth at manufacturer Foxconn could be a bad sign for Apple has been called out by Oppenheimer & Company analyst Yair Reiner, which instead asserts that the connection between the two companies is limited.
He told clients — as reported by “AppleInsider” that the conclusion reached by JMP Securities might appear to carry weight at first, because Foxconn and Apple both accelerated in growth together. But with a closer look, Reiner feels the connection between Foxconn and Apple is not supported.
“Apple’s contribution to Han Hai (which uses the trade name Foxconn) is limited,” Reiner wrote. “The correlation between Apple and Hon Hai’s revenue therefore appears to be a product of coincidence more than causality.”
— Dennis Sellers
