A big red Apple may be stuck in the New Year’s pig’s mouth if the computer giant can’t add an extra $1.64 to its stock price by Thursday.
The tech giant’s shares are languishing in negative territory — having closed Tuesday at $108.74, off about 1.5 percent year-to-date — with only two days of trading left for 2015.
That sets the stage for a suspenseful finish that’s threatening the first down year for Apple shares since they got slammed by the financial crisis of 2008.
The problem: Wall Street is sorting through a slew of worrisome reports about holiday iPhone sales, which analysts say may also be headed for their first drop ever.
A fresh, unconfirmed report from Asia on Tuesday said that iPhone manufacturers including FoxConn are reducing overtime shifts for workers as Christmas demand has fallen between 5 percent and 10 percent short of targets.
Earlier this week, Stifel’s Aaron Rakers predicted that Apple will sell 74.7 million iPhones in the holiday quarter, eking out a slight increase from last year’s 74.5 million.
Still, the analyst noted that exports from key iPhone manufacturing provinces in China suffered a “notable slowdown” in November following strength in September and October.
The hand-wringing marks a sharp reversal from a year ago, when Apple’s record iPhone sales fueled a quarterly profit of $18 billion — the largest in its history.
Apple’s malaise in 2015 — marked by a lackluster debut for the Apple Watch, as well as its Music and News products — is jeopardizing its status as the world’s most valuable company.
Shares of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, hit a fresh all-time high Tuesday, giving it a market capitalization of $541 billion that’s in second place behind Apple’s $605 billion.
Also, Alphabet’s ad-search, YouTube and Android operating-system businesses are swiftly growing.