Woes in the Chinese economy are causing aftershocks around the world, and for Apple shareholders, this morning saw their stock opening below $100 a share at just $94.87. AAPL was last in the sub-$100 territory in October, 2014. Shares reached a high of $134.54 on April 28, 2015.
Markets around the globe opened well below Friday’s closing prices thanks to a huge drop in the Chinese Shanghai Index. Investors are concerned about a wider collapse of the Chinese economy, and some are already referring to this morning’s opening as “Black Monday”. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which includes Apple as a component, was down almost 1,100 points at the start of trading this morning. As of 11 AM ET, the DJIA has recovered over 700 points. AAPL was also back above $100 at about $104.5. How the markets and shares in APPL will fare at the end of the day is anybody’s guess.
Apple CEO Tim Cook remains upbeat about China and his company, and sent the following email to The Street’s Jim Cramer early this morning:
“Jim,
As you know, we don’t give mid-quarter updates and we rarely comment on moves in Apple stock. But I know your question is on the minds of many investors.
I get updates on our performance in China every day, including this morning, and I can tell you that we have continued to experience strong growth for our business in China through July and August. Growth in iPhone activations has actually accelerated over the past few weeks, and we have had the best performance of the year for the App Store in China during the last 2 weeks.
Obviously I can’t predict the future, but our performance so far this quarter is reassuring. Additionally, I continue to believe that China represents an unprecedented opportunity over the long term as LTE penetration is very low and most importantly the growth of the middle class over the next several years will be huge.
Tim”
