蘋果股價跌至近一年低位 投資者擔心其業績

Appleshares hit their lowest point in almost a year on Monday after investors, already jittery about the iPhone maker's results next week, were spooked by reports of supply-chain cutbacks.

週一， iPhone製造商蘋果(Apple)的股價跌至近一年最低位，原因在於投資者對於蘋果削減供應鏈訂單的消息感到恐慌。此前投資者已對下週將公佈的蘋果業績報告感到不安。

Shares in Apple shaved the $500 mark in pre-market trading and were about 3 per cent lower at $504.73 by late morning in New York. Investors in the world's most valuable company watched its shares rise from below $500 in early February last year to top $700 in September, from which point it has steadily declined.

在紐約盤前交易時段，蘋果股價曾跌破500美元關口，接近中午時爲504.73美元，跌幅約爲3%。這家全球市值最高公司的股價從去年2月初不到500美元的水平開始攀升，去年9月升至最高價700美元，隨後便呈現出穩定下跌態勢。

Analysts' consensus forecasts predict that Apple's earnings will post a year-over-year decline for the first time in a decade. The company warned in October that margins would be put under pressure by the simultaneous launch of many products, including the iPhone 5, iPad mini and iMac.

根據分析師們的共識預測，蘋果的盈利將出現10年來首次同比下滑。該公司去年10月警告稱，由於iPhone 5、iPad mini和iMac等許多產品同步上市，其利潤率將會承受壓力。

The trigger for the latest sell-off came with reports from Japan's Nikkei newspaper and the Wall Street Journal that Apple had halved orders for iPhone 5 screens from suppliers for the period between January and March, to about 33m displays.

引發最新一輪拋售的導火線是，《日本經濟新聞》(Nikkei newspaper)和《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)報道稱，蘋果已把1月至3月期間向供應商訂購的iPhone 5屏幕數量砍掉了一半，降低至約3300萬個。

Apple declined to comment on the reports.

蘋果拒絕就上述消息置評。

Wall Street analysts including UBS, Jefferies and Citigroup had already reduced their estimates a month ago, citing lower component orders from Apple. The WSJ said that Apple had notified suppliers of the cuts in December.

一個月前，瑞銀(UBS)、傑富瑞(Jefferies)和花旗集團(Citigroup)等華爾街銀行的分析師們便援引蘋果削減產品組件訂單的消息，調低了他們對該公司業績的估測。《華爾街日報》表示，蘋果已在去年12年通知供應商減少供貨量。

Nonetheless, the sharp reaction from investors to the latest highlights nervousness ahead of Apple's results next week for the three months to December.

然而，投資者對最近報道的激烈反應表明，他們對於蘋果將於下週公佈的截至去年12月的季度業績報告感到擔心。

“Many investors now feel the bloom is off the rose and that they have to trade Apple as if it’s a normal company now,” said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade.

TD Ameritrade的首席衍生品策略師JJ Kinahan表示：“如今許多投資者感覺到，蘋果已喪失新鮮感，他們現在只能像對待普通公司那樣買賣蘋果股票了。”