Shares surged as high as $17.72 on the day in anticipation of Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 6. However, when Apple did not mentioned the term “sapphire” for its glass cover used in the new iPhone 6, shares took a sharp turn to fall as far as $14.70.
In the weeks and months prior to the event, the stock had seen gains in leaps and bounds. Apple initially made a licensing agreement with GT in October 2013 to use its sapphire glass technology. Out of anticipation for this deal, among other factors, the stock had risen to a 52-week high of $20.54 in July from a price of $7.42 back in October. However, under the deal Apple was not obligated to make any purchase of sapphire.
In the wake of this fall, analysts have revised their calls about GT as follows:
- Goldman Sachs downgraded GT to Neutral from Buy, lowering its price target to $14 from $20.
- Piper Jaffray downgraded GT to Neutral from Overweight, lowering its price target to $16 from $23.
- Canaccord Genuity has a Hold rating for GT and moved the price target to $13 from $16.
- Cowen has lowered its price target to $18 from $19.
GT shares closed Tuesday after the Apple event at $14.94, falling about 13% from the open of $17.21. Wednesday’s trading shortly after the opening bell had its shares down roughly another 10% at $13.44. Thomson Reuters has an analyst consensus price target of $19.23, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $6.28 to $20.54.
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