Analysts at Erste Group lowered a rating on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock from Buy to Hold, saying the tech giant’s growth momentum “continues to slow.”
“The continuing decline in sales in China is also having a particularly negative impact on sales development. Apple is also losing market share in China, especially to Huawei Technologies,” analysts wrote.
“No change in this respect is currently foreseeable. The current new products do not currently have the potential to significantly improve the Group's sales momentum,” they added.
In the last fiscal year ending September 2023, Apple reported a revenue decline of 2.8%, totaling $383.3 billion.
The Products segment saw a decrease of 5.7% to $298.1 billion, while the Services segment grew by 9.1% to $85.2 billion.
Revenue dropped across all major regions including the Americas, Europe, Japan, and China.
Despite a slight increase in operating costs, operating income fell by 4% year-over-year to $114.3 billion, and the operating margin decreased to 29.8% from 30.3%.