Suddenly, Apple Stock Looks Rotten

Investors might finally be falling out of love with Apple. Despite the buzz around the iPad Mini, Apple's shares have fallen 20% since their September peak, from $700 a share down to $558, the New York Times reports. Why? Because where a layperson might see a big slate of exciting new products, Wall Street sees profit liabilities—new products tend to have thinner margins at first, until the manufacturing process gets streamlined and volume picks up. Case in point: Foxconn yesterday admitted that it can't keep up with demand for the iPad Mini, reports the AFP. "We can't really fulfill Apple's requests," says its chairman. "Our shipments are insufficient."

Add that to the recent management shakeup, a report that Android's market share had jumped from 57.5% to 75%, and the always looming worries that Apple, already the market's most valuable company, is running out of room to grow and people to sell gadgets to, and you've got plenty of food for bears. "It has just been wave after wave of bad news," one analyst says. But Cupertino executives say the company is still growing just fine, and hey, the stock is still up 38% on the year. (More Apple stories.)