Yahoo Finance Carl Icahn and China Took Apple Stock Down 3% on April 28
Is the Sky Falling? Carl Icahn Exited His Investment in Apple
Carl Icahn exited Apple stock due to China fears
Apple (AAPL) fell 3% on April 28, 2016. Carl Icahn stated that he doesn’t hold stake in the company. The company’s shares are already down about 10% for the year as of April 28.
On April 26, Apple reported its earnings for the quarter ending March 2016. According to the earnings report, the company’s sales fell 13% to $50.6 billion. This marked the first decline in iPhone sales and the first revenue drop since 2003. A negative stock market (SPY) (QQQ) reaction was expected. The report ended a streak of 51 quarters of uninterrupted growth in earnings.
Icahn exits from his “no brainer” investment
Icahn disclosed his stake in the company three years ago in 3Q13. Since then, Icahn has been a huge fan of Apple. He repeatedly calling the investment a “no brainer.”
However, in 4Q15, Icahn offloaded about 7 million Apple shares. This brought Apple’s share in his portfolio down from 20.9% to 16.4%. Icahn started 2016 with about 16.4% of his portfolio invested in Apple. Icahn offloaded the stake due to a perceived slump in sales growth that could occur due to the smartphone market becoming saturated.
On April 28, he stated that “We no longer have a position in Apple,” at an interview with CNBC.
So, what caused the billionaire activist investor to offload the entire stake of a company he likes? Icahn says he’s “worried about China” (YINN) (FXI).
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