Apple shares rebound on Thursday, tech giant speaks in defense of App Store as criticism intensifies

In a new blog post describing functions and guidelines, Apple Inc (AAPL) earlier this week publicly defended its App Store against intensifying criticism in relation to how the tech giant treats competitors.

Apple shares closed higher for the fourth time in the past fifteen trading sessions on NASDAQ on Thursday. The stock went up 0.52% ($0.92) to $178.30, after touching an intraday high at $179.20 and an intraday low at $176.66.

Shares of Apple Inc have added 13.03% to their value so far in 2019 compared with an 11.25% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Apple’s stock went down 6.79%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Apples practices have been largely criticized as being anti-competitive. In a complaint to the European Union’s antitrust regulators, music streaming company Spotify Technology SA, for example, had stressed on the 30% fee, which content-based service providers are charged by Apple in order to use its in-app purchase system.

However, in response to such accusations, in a section titled “Principles and Practices”, Apple Inc said that it was up to developers to decide what they were willing to charge from a set of price tiers.

“We only collect a commission from developers when a digital good or service is delivered through an app,” Apple Inc said in the post, cited by Reuters.

“We also care about quality over quantity, and trust over transactions. That’s why, even though other stores have more users and more app downloads, the App Store earns more money for developers. Our users trust Apple – and that trust is critical to how we operate a fair, competitive store for developer app distribution,” the tech company also said.

According to CNN Money, the 34 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $221.00, with a high estimate of $245.00 and a low estimate of $150.00. The median estimate represents a 23.95% upside compared to the closing price of $178.30 on May 30th.

The same media also reported that 18 out of 40 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 17 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 3 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $181.59
R1 – $185.38
R2 – $191.78
R3 – $195.57
R4 – $199.35

S1 – $175.19
S2 – $171.40
S3 – $165.00
S4 – $158.59