Apple's stock has been on a rollercoaster ride today since opening at $257.26, with shares rising as high as $278.41 within a span of a few hours before quickly plummeting as low as the $260s. At times, the price has swung by as much as $10 in both directions in a matter of minutes in what has been a volatile trading session.
Apple's stock is still down significantly from its all-time high closing price of $327.20 on February 16, just over two weeks ago.
Apple's performance is in line with a broader selloff of Dow Jones stocks that analysts believe stems from concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The virus has infected at least 80,000 people worldwide, resulting in at least 2,800 deaths, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The coronavirus outbreak prompted many of Apple's suppliers to suspend production at their factories in China last month, while Apple also temporarily closed its retail stores across the country out of an abundance of caution, leading the company to issue a rare revenue warning for the March quarter early last week.
While many of those factories and stores have since reopened, with measures in place such as limited production and reduced hours, there remains a lot of uncertainty over the COVID-19 situation and that appears to be impacting major stocks, ranging from Apple to Coca-Cola to Disney.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday said he feels that "China is getting the coronavirus under control," adding that the number of reported infections in the region is "coming down day by day by day."
