Apple CEO Tim Cook pockets $41 Million in stock sale

Apple ( AAPL. O) CHIEF Executive Officer Tim Cook sold his largest stake in two years, after a $41.5 million tax, showing a U.S. securities filing.

Cook sold 511,000 shares, worth $87.8 million before accounting for taxes, according to a filing dated Tuesday. He made $355 million from a stock sale in August 2021.
The Apple chief owns about 3.3 million shares, worth about $565 million, after the sale, the filing shows.

The company’s shares fell 13% from their record high of $198.23 in July as investors worried about a slower-than-expected recovery over smartphone demand.

Apple launched its new iPhone 15 lineup last month without raising prices, a move that some industry observers said was a response to the global smartphone slowdown.

Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company fell 0.6% in pre-bell trading.

Analysts at KeyBanc on Wednesday downgraded the stock from “overweight” to “sector-weight” on concerns that sales growth in the U.S. — Apple’s largest geographic segment — could slow again in the fourth quarter.

The brokerage noted that fewer phone users in the US are likely to upgrade their devices as they deal with higher inflation.

By Priyanka Bhowmick