AAPL is lower after Goldman cut iPhone estimates
The shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are down 0.5% to trade at $193.25 this morning, after a price-target cut from Goldman Sachs to $209 from $222. In addition, the brokerage firm cut Apple's iPhone estimates for 2019, thinking it will produce 6% fewer iPhones next year because supplier Lumentum Holdings (LITE) recently slashed its shipment outlook.
Today's drop has AAPL shares on track to finish below their 200-day moving average for the first time since late April. Apple stock's all-time high of $233.47 was only back on Oct. 3, but the vaunted FAANG name wasn't immune to the steep sell-off in October. In fact, the security is heading toward its seventh straight weekly loss -- and its worst week since March -- which would mark its longest weekly losing streak since 2012.
In the options pits, puts have risen in popularity recently. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AAPL's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.65 ranks in the elevated 73rd annual percentile. While this shows that more calls than puts have been purchased on an absolute basis, the rate of put buying relative to call buying has been quicker than usual.
Digging deeper shows that the November 200 put is home to peak front-month open interest, with more than 49,000 contracts outstanding. A healthy portion of the puts were bought to open, suggesting speculators have been betting on an extended retreat beneath the century mark before Friday's options expiration.