Apple is close to lose $500 billion in market value as its shares plunged nearly 10% on track.
As reported on Friday, the sharp downturn follows a disappointing quarterly revenue forecast and stark warnings from outgoing CEO Tim Cook regarding severe supply chain constraints.
The explosive, data-center-driven AI boom is straining global semiconductor and memory supply chains.
The fierce scramble for chips—often dubbed “RAMageddon”—has left consumer tech giants fighting for components, driving up component costs and making it difficult to meet hardware demand.
Cook noted that Apple’s ability to cushion surging memory costs is fading, and ongoing processor shortages are actively preventing the company from keeping pace with strong consumer demand for iPhones and Macs.
Apple’s projected revenue growth of 9% to 11% for the current quarter fell short of Wall Street’s roughly 12% expectations, amplifying investor anxiety.
The drop, if sustained, would mark the stock’s worst day since the pandemic-driven selloff in March 2020. It would erase nearly $500 billion from Apple’s market capitalization and return the crown of the world’s most valuable company to AI chip giant Nvidia, days after reclaiming it.
Big Tech has been scooping up advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to power its AI data centers, sparking shortages and price increases that are expected to shrink both the personal computer and smartphone markets this year.
Tim Cook, widely hailed as a supply-chain genius, called the shortages “very significant” and said Apple had limited options to address them, speaking on his final earnings call as CEO before handing the reins to John Ternus in September and becoming executive chairman.
“If even at Apple’s scale they are saying they are out all supply chain flexibility, it’s really bad for everyone,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consultant Creative Strategies.
