What happened
Good news for Apple (AAPL +0.33%) investors! Investment bank Wedbush is reporting this morning that despite chip deficits and supply chain hurdles, the tech giant is on pace to sell 10 million iPhones this Black Friday weekend.
So ... why is Apple stock down 3% as of 11:25 a.m. ET today?
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
As The Fly reports this morning, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives is "seeing shortages in many Apple stores" -- which sounds like bad news, but is actually more evidence that Apple's iPhones are selling like proverbial hotcakes. In fact, according to the analyst, "10 million iPhones" could be just the beginning of the good news; through Christmas, Ives thinks Apple could move as many as 40 million units. Suffice it to say that Wedbush thinks this is bullish news for Apple stock, and will help the stock reach the bank's $185 price target.
Nor is this the only good news Apple investors are feasting on this day after Thanksgivingy. In a separate report, TFI Asset Management is predicting that Apple will begin selling an augmented reality (AR) headset in the fourth quarter of next year -- not in time for this Christmas, but in plenty of time for next Christmas.
Now what
This is actually even bigger news than it appears to be at first glance. As TFI advises, Apple is building "PC-level computing power" into its headset -- such that an Apple-branded AR system can function independent of a smartphone (unlike Samsung's Gear product, for example, or Meta Platforms' Oculus). Indeed, TFI surmises that Apple's long-term plan is to phase out the iPhone and replace it with an augmented reality devices about 10 years from now.
Or, in other words: Apple wants to build and dominate the metaverse.
Of course, this still doesn't tell us why Apple stock is down today. Logically, news of the sort described above should be lifting Apple stock, not torpedoing it. Sadly, though, it seems investors are sufficiently shook up by today's news about a new coronavirus variant that's popped up in South Africa that they're selling stocks no matter what good news they have to report (which is why the S&P 500 is down 2.2% already).
Once the panic passes, though, investors may realize that today was a great day to invest in Apple stock.
