Apple's market value has increased by nearly $1 trillion this year. But achieving such growth in 2024 will be difficult for the tech giant. Apple is also facing uncertainty in key markets and fiercer competition as it attempts to reverse four consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales declines.

At the same time, Apple’s two smartwatches, Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, will be removed from the shelves because the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that these two Apple Watch products infringed on the blood oxygen sensor patent of the medical device company Masimo. Analysts say that the peak shopping season before Christmas is the peak period for Apple product sales. The announcement of removal from shelves and suspension of sales at this time will have a certain negative impact on the sales of Apple products.

Data shows that Apple’s stock price has risen nearly 51% this year. Investors are betting that Apple will continue to generate huge profits regardless of the state of the economy. It also leaves Apple stock at an overly expensive level, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 29 times, nearly double the average price-to-earnings ratio over the past decade.

Eric Clark, portfolio manager at Accuvest Global Advisors, said: "The biggest risk facing large technology stocks right now is the movement of funds to other companies." He said he has reduced his position in Apple and some other large technology stocks.


Eric Clark pointed out that these large technology stocks facing higher valuations, slower growth and more difficult year-on-year comparisons may cause investors to move funds to "other areas where they believe there may be greater upside in 2024."

Traders have been holding on to blue-chip stocks this year as the Federal Reserve sticks to tight monetary policy. But now there are signs that interest rates appear to have peaked as inflation cools, and a Fed rate cut may be imminent. Under such optimistic expectations, the recent rally in U.S. stocks has heated up, making investors interested in riskier stocks.

Amid a lofty valuation, any rise in Apple's stock price will likely have to be driven by accelerating profit growth. Wall Street analysts generally expect Apple's revenue growth in fiscal 2024 to be only 3.7% and profit growth to be 7.6%.

Wall Street is almost unanimously bullish on big tech stocks, but more cautious on Apple. Apple has just 34 "buy" ratings, dwarfed by Amazon (AMZN)'s 67, Meta (META)'s 65 and Nvidia's (NVDA) 59 bullish ratings. The disconnect between Apple's growth prospects and its tepid growth prospects helps explain why analysts' enthusiasm for the stock has cooled even as its market value rose to more than $3 trillion.

Not everyone is bearish on Apple, though. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives, who often expresses positive views on Apple, predicts that Apple's market value will reach $4 trillion by the end of next year. The analyst's price target for Apple is $250, the highest price target given by Wall Street analysts and higher than the average analyst estimate of $199.

Eric Clark also said that Apple's iPhone is "the greatest consumer product ever", so the company "justifies a higher price-to-earnings ratio."