Tech

Apple earnings drag tech stocks down after hours

Key Points
  • Apple slipped as much as 7 percent after hours Thursday following its fourth quarter earnings report.
  • The stock dragged down the Nasdaq, erasing gains after hours from earlier in the day.
  • October was the worst month for tech stocks since the 2008 recession.
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Just as tech stocks began to turn around from their worst month since the 2008 recession, Apple dragged down the Nasdaq after hour, as it reported light guidance for its next quarter and notified investors it would stop offering unit sales figures for iPhones and other products.

The Nasdaq closed up 1.75 percent Thursday, starting November on an upswing. But as Apple slid 7 percent after hours, briefly dipping below its $1 trillion market cap, the Nasdaq lost most of its gains from the day, slipping 1.72 percent in postmarket trading.

Several other tech giants saw notable after-hours drops after Apple reported earnings, including Amazon (down 1.5 percent), Facebook (down 1 percent) and Netflix (down about 2 percent).

Although it beat analyst expectations on revenue and earnings per share, Apple missed estimates for iPhone sales, reporting 46.89 million compared to analyst predictions of 47.5 million according to FactSet and StreetAccount.

Apple projected $89 billion to $93 billion revenue for its first quarter, just shy of analyst estimates of $93.02 billion.

-CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed to this report.

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