Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL) shares are down nearly 40% from their all-time high to weigh on Nasdaq-100 and technology-sector ETFs that have large positions in the company.
Apple’s 12% pullback Thursday after quarterly results that failed to meet Wall Street’s lofty expectations also dinged options traders who had placed bullish bets with ETF options.
For the three months ended Jan. 24, PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ) is up 2.9%, while SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY) has more than doubled that return with a 6.7% gain. Much of this underperformance can be blamed on Apple. [ETF Chart of the Day: Apple and the Nasdaq-100 Index]
Apple’s weighting in QQQ, the Nasdaq-100 ETF, has been reduced by the stock’s recent nosedive but it is still the largest holding at 13.5%. The next-largest stock is Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT) at 7.4% of the fund.
In Technology Select Sector SDPR (NYSEArca: XLK), Apple represents 16.5% of the ETF.
On Thursday, options volume in XLK surged to four times the daily average after Apple reported earnings, WSJ.com’s MarketBeat blog reports.
One investor took a 63% loss on a position in the tech ETF after Apple’s quarterly results failed to excite, according to MarketBeat.