Apple shares fall the most since late April 2016 on Friday due to worries over weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue guidance

Apple Incs announcement to return cash to shareholders seemed to have done little to soothe market players, as the latter put more weight on the tech giants weaker-than-anticipated second-quarter revenue guidance.

Apple shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past eight trading sessions on Friday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since April 27th 2016. The stock went down 4.34% ($7.28) to $160.50, after touching an intraday low at $160.10, or a price level not seen since October 27th 2017 ($158.70).

In the week ended on February 4th the shares of the technological company lost 6.42% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of decrease. It has also been the worst performance since the week ended on May 1st 2016.

The stock has lost 4.14% so far during the current month, following a 1.06% slump in January. The latter has been a second consecutive month of losses.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NASDAQ-listed tech company rose 46.11% following another 10.03% surge in 2016.

Last Thursday, Apple revealed its intention to “target a capital structure that is approximately net neutral” over time. In a reference to its cash level net of debt, the tech company noted it would “take that balance down from $163 billion to zero”.

However, on that same day Apple also said that as many as 77.3 million iPhones were sold during the holiday quarter, down from 78.2 million units sold during the same period a year ago. The figure also fell short of the median analyst estimate pointing to sales of 80 million units.

The tech giant said it expected total revenue within the range between $60 billion and $62 billion as well as a gross margin ranging between 38% and 38.5% during the fiscal second quarter that ends in March. In comparison, analysts on average anticipate revenue of $65.7 billion and a gross margin of 38.9% during the second quarter.

According to Longbow Research analysts, Apples revenue guidance pointed to a shipment forecast of 50 million iPhones during the second quarter.

In January Longbow Research downgraded Apple to “Neutral” from “Buy”, citing weaker sales outlook. Longbow analyst Shawn Harrison revised down his full-year 2018 iPhone sales forecast to 233 million units from 248 million units previously.

“iPhone sell-through appears to have declined in the December quarter, which, along with weaker-than-expected second quarter revenue guidance, reinforces our view of a saturated market”, KeyBanc analysts wrote in a client note, cited by Reuters. “Further, gross margin results and guidance both missed our expectations, which reduces our view of potential profit growth going forward”.

KeyBanc also revised down its rating on the stock from “Overweight” to “Sector Weight”.

According to CNN Money, the 30 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $196.50, with a high estimate of $220.00 and a low estimate of $152.00. The median estimate is a 22.43% surge compared to the closing price of $160.50 on February 2nd.

The same media also reported that 24 out of 37 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 9 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Apple stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $161.06
R2 – $161.62
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $162.17
R4 (Long Breakout) – $163.85
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $165.81
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $166.60

S1 – $159.94
S2 – $159.38
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $158.83
S4 (Short Breakout) – $157.15
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $155.19
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $154.40

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $164.05
R1 – $167.96
R2 – $175.43
R3 – $179.34
R4 – $183.26

S1 – $156.58
S2 – $152.67
S3 – $145.20
S4 – $137.74