Editors Note: The list of top tickers is derived from the quote pages that received the most views on Yahoo! Finance by examining data for the current week. It is not, however, a list of the most searched-for tickers on our site.
1. Apple (AAPL)
Tracking the fall of Apple, already a favorite pastime to many, could become one of the most popular sports on Wall Street this year if the company’s start to 2013 is any indication.
The week kicked off with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Apple had slashed orders for iPhone 5 parts by half. It was another flag in a growing field of red flags. According to market intelligence firm IDC, Samsung’s Galaxy controlled 31.3% of the smartphone market in the third-quarter of 2012 compared to 14.6% for Apple.
2. Facebook (FB)
Facebook was the second-most viewed ticker this week as Wall Street awaited the dramatic unveiling of a mystery product on Tuesday. The buzz quickly faded after Mark Zuckerberg drew back the curtain on “Graph Search,” a product that allows user to do their searches on everything from restaurants to music within Facebook’s pool of more than 1 billion users.
"It's a way to dive into the vast Facebook database with all the personal information of the billion people who use it and find answers to your questions about people," Steven Levy senior writer at WIRED, told Breakout on Tuesday.
Despite the buzz leading up to the event, Facebook acknowledged that turning Graph Search into a revenue generator is a ways off. That is the very definition of a buzz kill. Shares peaked above $32 on Monday, only to slide the rest of the week. Shares have fallen close to 7% this week.
3. Bank of America (BAC)
Bank of America’s earnings results, released on Thursday, showed that the country’s housing crisis continues to have a long tail. The country’s second-largest bank said fourth-quarter earnings and revenue declined as it continued to deal with mortgage-related matters. Bank of America purchased subprime lender Countrywide Financial in 2008.
However, the company also said mortgage lending volume was on the rise and expenses were falling at the division that handles its troubled home loans.
CEO Brian Moyniahn is being given due credit for helping right the ship, but now questions as to whether he can actually grow the business are popping up.
“Boosting profit now is tricky for any bank CEO, because lending margins are thin and regulations and capital rules are squeezing income from many banking businesses,” noted Reuters.
4. Intel (INTC)
Intel deflated global markets on Friday after announcing disappointing third-quarter earnings and warning of continued challenges ahead. Diminishing demand for PCs has the chipmaker on pace for a third consecutive quarter of falling sales.