The decision, said Piper Sandler in a note to its clients, was due to worries regarding ‘tepid’ demand for Apple’s products, including the iPhone. The brokerage also revised its price target on Apple’s stock to $205 from $220.

“We are concerned about handset inventories entering into 1H24 and also feel that growth rates have peaked for unit sales…deteriorating macro environment in China could also weigh on the handset business,” Harsh Kumar, MD and senior research analyst, Piper Sandler, explained in the note.

Kumar further stated that the Tim Cook-led company is also likely to face further challenges due to an ongoing patent dispute involving the new Apple Watches, and because of a strong US dollar.

On Tuesday, it was Barclays which cut its rating for the Cupertino, California-based firm, going from ‘neutral’ to ‘underweight.’

On Thursday, meanwhile, Apple’s shares dropped 1.7% to $181.20, an eight-week low. If the losses were to hold, the company would have lost $47.4 billion of its value for the day.

(With Reuters inputs)