Apple shares plunge; analysts don’t see iPhone under every Xmas tree

Hit by downgrades, Apple had the dubious distinction today of falling harder and faster than the broader market on Wall Street’s Black Monday.

Apple’s stock finished the day down 17.92%, slicing nearly $US20 billion off the company’s market cap. The NASDAQ fell 9.14%, the Dow 9.71%. 

Morgan Stanley downgraded Apple to “equal weight” from “overweight”, while RBC Capital Market cut the company from “outperform” to “sector perform”.

RBC cited data from an in-house survey that found 40% of shoppers plan to spend less on electronics over the next three months.

Morgan Stanley said its channel checks had revealed retailers were cutting orders for iPhones and MacBooks, and anticipating price wars over Christmas.

Concerns linger that iPhone and iPod growth won’t be fast enough to cover declines in the personal computer market, expected to slump across the board.

Apple shareholders didn’t take well to merely neutral ratings, and the stock dived 15% even before the news broke that Congress had rejected the bail-out plan.

It’s stock closed on $US105.26, a new 52-week in low in what has been a savage three months on the NASDAQ for the company, which traded at close to $US200 during June, and has 52-week high of $202.96.

While Apple fell hardest, tech stocks in general shared the day’s pain, with Google down 11%, Intel 10%, Dell 9%, Microsoft 8.7%, Oracle 9%, HP 6.8% Amazon 10.4% and Yahoo 11%.