Apple’s stock prices fell 0.5% in extended-hours trading after the tech giant announced that it would temporarily close down its stores in China following the global emergency caused by the 2019-nCoV outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China.
The closure is tentatively scheduled up to February 9, 2020, but the company assured that it would open its doors in China “as soon as possible” once it has determined that it is already safe to do so.
In a statement from Apple, the tech superpower said that “out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts, we’re closing all our corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9.”
“Our thoughts are with the people most immediately affected by the Coronavirus and with those working around the clock to study and contain it,” the statement on Saturday added.
China is home to one of Apple’s biggest manufacturing and assembly hub, and it is also one of its biggest markets. Last year, Apple performed very well in China, as seen in the upward trend in the market performance of the iPhones. Back then, analysts said that they are expecting the stocks to rally in positive momentum.
“On a relative basis, we acknowledge that things probably won’t get a whole lot better than this and Sept/Oct have typically been the worst time to buy in recent years for relative performance, but as investors roll this sort of multiple forward to include more of the big C20/21 period, we think the stock can still move higher – especially as the ‘tail effect’ from it still being such a big global underweight might last for some time,” UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote back in October after he raised his Apple price target to $275 from $230.
