For quite some time when we’ve reported on Apple stock it has seemed like Apple could do no wrong and we wondered just how much higher the company could rise. It now seems though that Apple shares are plunging and faltering and that the last five days has seen Apple’s market capitalization drop by more than $50 billion.

In mid-March we wondered if there was a limit to just how successful the company could become and then told how Morgan Stanley analysts had raised Apple’s stock price target to $720 per share from $515 and that Apple had attained another stock high. It now seems though that the huge stock rises could not be sustained and that the current drops could also badly affect the rest of the market.

On Monday Apple shares fell by 4.1% and that reflected a slide over five consecutive days. On April 10 Apple had hit an intraday peak of $644 but Apple is now 9.9% down from that peak, close to a 10% ‘correction’ level. The WSJ reports that on Monday in 4pm Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading Apple was at $580.13, down $25.10. Over this year Apple shares have risen 43% and saw a market value of over $600 billion for a brief period last week. However Apple is now so influential that the current slump of the largest stock will affect other indexes in the Nasdaq Composite Index and Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index.

While that dependence has previously been a benefit, Apple accounted for around two-thirds of Nasdaq’s 0.8% decline on Monday. With Apple out of the equation the S&P 500 would have risen by around 0.14% but instead it fell by 0.05%. Unsurprisingly the Apple stock slide has led to people asking questions about exactly why it is happening and also asking if a much bigger decline is inevitable. Strangely enough, Apple’s stock losses have been particularly striking bearing in mind that plenty of other stocks have risen. It’s worth remembering though that this is likely to be a short setback and that at least two analysts recently forecast that Apple will eventually hit $1000 per share.

Chief Market Strategist for Merlin Securities, Rick Bensignor said, “Every living thing, including Apple, needs to stop and breathe,” and thought the company would soon resume its upward stance. There was no comment from an Apple spokesman. It remains to be seen exactly where Apple’s fortunes go from here but you can be sure the world will be watching and while some investors see the current slips as nothing more than a blip, others may feel it’s a more ominous sign. What are your thoughts on the current plunges in Apple shares?