As the market prepares for Apple Inc.’s earnings on Thursday, all I can think is this: Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has problems. Plenty of them.

The company dropped out of the $3 trillion valuation club this week, leaving Microsoft Corp. to stand alone, thanks to worries over China sales and a multitude of other headaches for the Cupertino-based company. There are at least half a dozen challenges that analysts and investors will most likely ask Cook to address.