Apple’s share price falls: a breather in growth, or the start of the fall?

Down 4% on Monday and almost 10% since their record price of 644 dollars was seen a few days ago, Apple’s share price is back below the 600 dollar mark a few days before the presentation of their quarterly earnings.

Apple’s fairy-tale run which has seen analysts estimating stratospheric prices for their shares (with some estimating 800 dollars and even 1000 dollars per share) may have hit a speed bump. Could this simply be a small correction before the group announces their quarterly earnings on the 24th of April?

After having recently passed through the 500 dollar and 600 dollar marks in the space of a month, finally seeing the price touch 644 dollars, Apple’s share price has lost ground in the last five days, with a significant fall on Monday when the price fell to 580 dollars.

Without being worrying, the pullback has been enough to attract the attention of market watchers and analysts who are wondering if this is the beginning of the share prices decline after (too?) quickly climbing over the last few quarters.

Cours Apple sur les six derniers mois (source WSJ)

A simple pause or the beginning of their decline?
With estimations having been strongly pumped up over the last few weeks, it would appear that some doubt has crept into the share price, with some rumours circulating indicating that there is some uncertainty in the future. The iPad Mini has some people concerned that the sector could be cannibalised, while some analysts fear that Mac computer sales may not be up to expectations when their earnings are released.

For others, this is simply a pause in the groups record run, with growth to quickly return as Apple has not made any recent decisions that could compromise their growth, something analysts recognizing as a positive sign.

Apple’s shares have attracted atypical investors for this kind of company (at least before the announcement that the company would start paying a dividend), with even a small price pullback certain to get some fund managers into a panic.