Google and Apple are having a Freaky Friday moment on Wall Street.
While analysts upgraded Google shares yesterday — calling for $1,000 price targets and Goldman Sachs proclaimed the search giant a hedge-fund darling — Apple shares and its status in the investing world were diving.
Apple used to be the company that Wall Street cheered to ever greater heights, fueling speculation it would be the first company to reach a $1 trillion market cap with shares above $1,000.
But Apple shares have fallen 36.5 percent from their Sept. 19 high, to yesterday’s close at $445.06.
Now, the market is watching Google to see if it can hit the a $1,000 threshold.
Bernstein Research, which last quarter joined a chorus of Apple downgraders, yesterday called for a $1,000 price on Google.
“We believe mass adoption of smart phones, tablets and the mobile Web is a large value creation opportunity for Google,” Bernstein analysts wrote.
As if on cue, Google showed off its new Chromebook Pixel, a hybrid touchscreen-laptop computer with a base price of $1,299.
Meanwhile, Apple was facing an investor revolt over its $137 billion cash pile, which shareholder activist David Einhorn wants returned to shareholders.
Apple, the company that once could do no wrong, is now out of favor, according to a Goldman Sachs hedge-fund trend report.
The report listed the companies that faced the “largest negative changes in popularity,” and Apple was No. 3 after 23 hedge funds dropped the stock last quarter.
Apple was still popular with the largest number of hedge fund investors, but fell behind Google in a key category: stocks that matter most to hedge funds.
Google closed yesterday up 0.4 percent, to $795.93, a share.