Key Takeaways
- A federal court declined to extend a stay on a ban on U.S. sales of certain Apple Watches using blood oxygen sensors while the company works to appeal a patent infringement case.
- The ban, which affects the sale of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, goes back into effect Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.
- Apple shares ended Wednesday’s session down 0.5%, while Masimo shares rose 2.1% to a six-month high.
Apple (AAPL) must once again discontinue the sale of Apple Watches using blood-oxygen sensors, according to a federal court ruling.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Apple’s request to extend a stay that had allowed sales to resume while the company worked to appeal a previous decision by the International Trade Commission on a patent infringement case first brought by Masimo (MASI) in 2021.
The appeals court, which noted in its decision Wednesday that it “reach[ed] no conclusion on the merits of the appeal,” said the ban, which affects sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, will go into effect on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.
The decision could affect Apple’s bottom line as wearables, like the Apple Watch, along with home and accessories, delivered $9.32 billion in net sales in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, accounting for more than 10% of the company’s total sales.
Apple shares fell 0.5% to close Wednesday at $182.68, while Masimo shares rose 2.1% to $122.57, a six-month high.