One of the biggest names in technology, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), added fractionally to its share price in Wednesday afternoon’s trading thanks to a turnaround in some trouble regarding its Apple Pay platform, among other things. The problems are behind it, and investors are making their way back, at least for now.
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Very early this morning—starting at around 6:15 a.m.—several payment-related Apple services went down. Apple Pay was out of the picture, as were Apple Card, Apple Cash, and Apple Wallet. The four of them were out until 6:49 a.m. However, an update was released to the systems status page at around 10:50 a.m., noting that services had been restored and the relevant issues fixed. Meanwhile, Apple Pay and Apple Wallet’s services only experienced limited outages, as Apple noted that the outage was specifically connected to the “…web and in-app payment functions.”
Apple Watches Vanishing
Losing a payment processing platform for any length of time is bad news enough. It makes users question its security protections, among other things, particularly its future viability. But Apple has more trouble than that on the horizon, as a major patent dispute is causing Apple to pull several models of Apple Watch from store shelves. The move follows a ruling from the International Trade Commission that relates to the Masimo pulse oximeter, which the ruling found Apple was using in violation of the patent.
The Masimo pulse oximeter uses light to monitor oxygen levels in blood, and so does the Apple Watch. Thus, to prevent a lawsuit, Apple pulled the devices in question from circulation. Reports suggest the move could cost Apple between $300 million and $400 million in lost sales.
Is Apple a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 24 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.54% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $202.40 per share implies 2.52% upside potential.
