Apple Stock Under Pressure as China Supply Woes Continue

Apple (AAPL:US) stock opened the new trading week lower as investors are growing increasingly concerned about the ongoing Covid-related situation in China. 

Massive protests erupted in China over the weekend in response to Government-imposed lockdowns to prevent Covid from spreading. Moreover, online videos emerged last week showing protests and clashes between workers at the world’s largest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan, operated by major Apple supplier Foxconn.

Workers were protesting against strict Covid measures, as well as poor working conditions at the plant and late payments. Apple said it has people on the ground to assist Foxconn in addressing complaints. 

Bloomberg News reported that the tech titan is set to lose as many as six million iPhone 14 Pro units due to ongoing issues in China. If Covid lockdowns continue in the coming weeks, production could be set further back.

Hence, AAPL stock is under pressure as the company may lose some of its iPhone-generated revenue in the current quarter at a time the demand is weakening amid a major macroeconomic slowdown. The share price is down by about 20.76% year-to-date (YTD).

Looking at Capitol Trades data, we can see several Congress members invested in Apple stock in 2022. On January 21, 2022, Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul exercised 100 call options at a strike price of $100 with an expiry due on the same date. Paul Pelosi also sold 50 call options with a strike price of $100 on June 17, 2022.

Congressman Ro Khanna has been trading AAPL all year long with the most recent trade including buying $50,000 - $100,000 worth of stock on July 19, when the price closed at $151 per share.

Among other Congress members, Democrats Earl Blumenauer, Josh Gottheimer, and Kathy Manning also invested in Apple shares in recent months.