This post was originally published on this site
Technology investor Paul Meeks is putting the brakes on his bullish forecast.
Meeks sees investors getting burned by tech stocks, saying the rally has gone too far, too fast.
“My issue is not fundamentals,” he said Monday on CNBC’s “Trading Nation ” segment. “It’s more about stretched valuations.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq has surged more than 30% since the December low. On Monday, it hit a fresh intraday all-time high of 8,176.08.
“If we have any whiff of even a slight disappointment, … some of these stocks could tumble,” said Meeks.
And, it’s not just broad tech that’s vulnerable to a deep pullback, according to Meeks. He warns that the semiconductor rally faces trouble, too, because there’s no material sign that the chip glut is abating.
“We could have a resumption of ordering from those customers, and a nice rebound in the sales from these semi companies late in 2019. So far, no good,” he said. “Right now, I’m on the fence as to if it’s actually going to happen.”
‘Apple is substantially overvalued’
Meeks, who ran the world’s biggest tech fund for Merrill Lynch during the dot-com boom and subsequent collapse, is also worried about Apple.
He suggests the iPhone maker, which reports quarterly numbers after Tuesday’s close, won’t be spared from the next sell-off.
“Apple is substantially overvalued at this level,” said Meeks. “I don’t think that Apple’s services business is all that great shakes.”
Meeks, who owns Apple in his portfolio, sees the stock more as a sell than a buy. It has soared almost 40% since the December sell-off, closing Monday near $205.
“I’m actually more inclined not to eliminate the position, but to start to trim it back,” Meeks said. “It would have to drop back to $150 [or] $160 for me to get interested in buying it again.”
