Apple's 12% Slump in 2024 Sends Investors Seeking Hedge Against Declines
$Apple(AAPL.US$'s 12% share slump this year is sending investors seeking cover amid mounting concerns over slowing growth prospects for the iPhone maker.
A block trade in the options market showed an active buyer paying a premium of $3.65 million for puts that give the holder the right to sell 500,000 Apple shares at $175, according to data tracked by Moomoo Technologies Inc. The block trade for put options, priced at $7.30 per share expiring on April 19, were posted at 10:46:34 am Tuesday.
At that exact time, another block trade was posted for put options giving the holder the right to sell Apple shares at $175 by March 8. The buyer paid a $2.6 million premium for about 5,000 options, each for 100 shares.
Apple shares fell almost 2.69% to $170.398 Tuesday morning as the iPhone maker continues to lose market share for smartphones in China. That adds to investor concerns for the tech giant that just recently lost its place as the world's most valuable company to $Microsoft(MSFT.US$.
Sales of iPhone in China fell 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 amid mounting competition and weakening demand in the Asian nation, data from Counterpoint Research showed.
The Cupertino-based company primarily "faced stiff competition at the high end from a resurgent Huawei while getting squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi,”Mengmeng Zhang, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, said in a press released Tuesday. "Although the iPhone 15 is a great device, it has no significant upgrades from the previous version, so consumers feel fine holding on to the older-generation iPhones for now.”
Apple's market share in China slipped to 16% in the period from Jan. 2 to Feb. 12, from 19% a year earlier, according to Counterpoint's weekly sell-through tracker. Huawei's share jumped to 17% from 9% a year earlierthe data showed. Chinese smartphone maker Vivo had the biggest share with 18%, down from 19% a year earlier.
The iPhone maker sustained the second-biggest hit among smartphone makers as total China sales from all manufacturers declined 7%.
Six other block trades with premiums over $1 million each were recorded Tuesday morning for options that give the holders the right to sell Apple shares at strike prices ranging from $170 to $185 a share, according to Moomoo data.
Still, the eight technical indicators tracked by Moomoo remain bullish.
Disclaimer: Options trading entails significant risk and is not appropriate for all investors. Certain complex option strategy carry additional risk. Before trading options, please readCharacteristics and Risks of Standardized Option.This article is for information and illustrative purposes only, and is not a promotion of option trading or a recommendation of any of the specific option mentioned above.
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Posts and columns do not represent the views of MM. They’re not investment advice.
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