Rare! Apple's stock rating has been downgraded, what is the reason?

Apple's stock price reached its highest level since August 2022 at the close of last Friday, only 4.4% away from the record high set in January 2022.

Apple's stock price rose 34% in 2023, more than three times the 9.4% increase in the S&P 500 index.

Apple's stock price at Friday's close reached its highest level since August 2022, just 4.4% below the record high of $182.01 set in January 2022.

In fact, if you wanted to "beat the market," all you had to do was buy Apple's stock at the end of last year and go to sleep.

But an analyst downgraded Apple's rating, which either seems like a great decision or a really bad one.

Loop Capital analyst Ananda Baruah downgraded Apple from Buy to Hold on Monday, while maintaining the target price at $180.

The reason is that Apple's second-quarter shipments have been reduced, putting its revenue expectations at risk.

He said: "After seeing Apple lower expectations for the second time in the past four weeks, we made the rating downgrade."

Of course, the risk is that the stock has hit a historic high and continues to rise.

However, if Loop is right, it will be seen as a great decision.