Google and Apple stock prices in 2013 look like a zero-sum game

AAPL stock has been in the news a lot lately, whether it comes to Warren Buffett’s opinion on buy-backs, the issue of preferred stock, or even its teetering market cap, but a closer look at the company’s NASDAQ fluctuation over the last year oddly shows a parallel to GOOG.

The graph above illustrates both Apple and Google’s highs and lows since September 2012, and, for the most part, they clearly mirror each other. The companies notably entered the zero-sum game in December 2012 and have continued this trend to present day.

The graph above is a more micro look at 2013, and it shows, again, that Google goes up every time Apple goes down.

Bloomberg noted on Wednesday that Google’s shares are now trading at “25 times profit, compared with a price-to- earnings ratio of less than 10 for Apple,” and it highlighted how the gap is at its widest since June 2005.

Google’s U.S. shares have risen 35 percent in the last year, while Apple, even though its capitalization is $100 billion more than Google’s, has dropped 21 percent.

AAPL shares are actually up $6.37 at $446.03 this morning, despite receiving another downgrade from R.W. Baird’s William Power, according to Barron’s, but Google shares notably hit an all-time and closed at $821.50 on Monday.

B Riley & Co. analyst Sameet Sinha attributed Google’s record to strong growth in all areas of the Internet, but Apple, she told Bloomberg, has “done well in devices, nothing else.”

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Business Insider reported that Citigroup also cut their estimates on Wednesday because of, as CNET phrased it, softened demand for both iPhone and iPad, and they forecasted Apple would fall short of its own $41 billion to $43 billion revenue guidance figures for the March quarter with just $40.45 billion in sales.

Although Google is now investors’ choice stock, Apple has the potential —especially with its rumored iWatch and Apple TV products—to regain the spotlight and break out of the zero-sum game.