Apple v květnu koupil startup Sonera, který vyvíjí neinvazivní magnetické senzory pro snímání signálů mozku a svalů bez kontaktu s kůží. Firma tím naznačuje další krok v oblasti zdravotních a nositelných zařízení.
Brain-computer interfaces have largely been associated with Elon Musk‘s Neuralink and its implantable chips. But Apple Inc‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) quiet acquisition of startup Sonera suggests the iPhone maker is pursuing a similar long-term ambition through a very different route: bringing brain and muscle sensing to consumer wearables rather than the operating room.
Apple’s Brain Tech BetApple acquired California-based startup Sonera in May, according to newly disclosed European Union filings. The startup developed compact magnetic sensors capable of detecting tiny magnetic fields generated by the brain and muscles without requiring skin contact or implanted devices.
Founded by UC Berkeley researchers Nishita Deka and Dominic Labanowski, Sonera initially focused on muscle monitoring before expanding into technology that could eventually enable everyday brain sensing. The company’s website has since gone offline following the acquisition.
Apple has not publicly disclosed how it plans to use the technology, but the acquisition aligns with the company’s broader push into digital health, accessibility and more natural ways for users to interact with its devices.
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Neuralink’s Different PathThe comparison with Neuralink is inevitable, but the two companies appear to be solving different parts of the same problem.
Neuralink is developing implantable brain-computer interfaces designed to capture high-fidelity neural signals, with an initial focus on helping people with severe neurological conditions regain communication and physical control.
Apple’s approach, by contrast, appears to prioritize accessibility and scale. If non-invasive sensors become sufficiently accurate, they could eventually be integrated into products such as the Apple Watch, Vision Pro or other wearable devices, enabling new forms of gesture recognition, health monitoring or hands-free interaction without surgery.
That distinction reflects a broader trade-off in brain-computer interfaces: implanted devices can capture richer neural data, while wearable sensors have the potential to reach hundreds of millions of consumers if the technology matures.
What Investors Should WatchApple’s acquisition of Sonera does not mean brain-controlled consumer devices are around the corner. Non-invasive sensing remains an emerging technology, and the company has yet to reveal any commercial roadmap.
The bigger takeaway is strategic. Apple has consistently expanded its ecosystem by bringing advanced health technologies—from heart rhythm monitoring to hearing health—into everyday consumer devices.
If brain and muscle sensing follows a similar path, the acquisition could represent an early investment in what may become the next generation of human-device interaction, even if Apple’s route looks very different from Musk’s Neuralink.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled the iPhone Air and broader iPhone 17 lineup at its September 2025 launch event, kicking off a product cycle that helped drive the company’s shares sharply higher over the following year.
Since the event on September 9, 2025, Apple stock has climbed from about $233 to $316, a gain of roughly 35.6%.
Apple stock price chart. Source: Finbold As a result, a $1,000 investment made on the day of the launch would now be worth approximately $1,356, excluding dividends.
Apple’s successful product roll-out The rally coincided with a successful rollout of the iPhone 17 family, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and ultra-thin iPhone Air. Strong demand boosted upgrade rates and helped accelerate growth throughout fiscal 2026.
That momentum was reflected in Apple’s fiscal Q3 2026 results. The company reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year.
iPhone revenue rose 21.7% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 28.7% to $10.4 billion. Services revenue reached a June-quarter record of $30.74 billion, helping lift net income 27% to $29.8 billion. Diluted EPS came in at $2.02, ahead of analyst estimates of $1.89.
At the same time, the technology giant’s pricing power also supported results. Despite higher memory costs, the company adjusted prices on select products and guided for September-quarter revenue growth of 9% to 11% and gross margins of 47% to 48%.
Long-term growth drivers remain intact with Apple’s silicon strategy continuing to deliver performance and efficiency advantages, while Services has evolved into a high-margin business generating more than $120 billion in trailing 12-month revenue.
Apple 2026’s Event Investor sentiment has also been supported by expectations for future products under CEO John Ternus.
Anticipation surrounding Apple’s first foldable iPhone and other premium devices has helped sustain interest in the stock, even as component shortages and elevated memory costs created periodic volatility.
The focus now shifts to Apple’s September 9, 2026, event, titled “Surprise and Shine,” the first major product presentation under Ternus after succeeding Tim Cook on September 1.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max powered by the A20 Pro chip, alongside its long-awaited foldable iPhone.
Updated Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models are also anticipated, while the standard iPhone 18 lineup is reportedly being pushed to spring 2027 as part of a strategy focused on higher-margin products.
Featured image via Shutterstock
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Paul Meeks varuje, že Apple u nového iPhonu zasáhnou rostoucí ceny pamětí a hrubé marže mohou klesnout. Tim Cook už uvedl, že firma neochotně zvýšila ceny a čeká v září ještě vyšší náklady na paměti.
As Apple prepares to unveil its most ambitious iPhone in years, veteran tech analyst Paul Meeks is raising a quiet alarm about a supplier oligopoly that could turn a blockbuster launch into a margin nightmare.
Just before Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) takes the stage for what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman calls “the most exciting iPhone launch in a decade”, others are less convinced. Veteran tech analyst Paul Meeks of Freedom Capital Markets used a CNBC appearance to push back on the celebration. His message: the memory oligopoly is quietly winning this cycle, and Apple’s gross margins will pay for it.
Meeks warned viewers not to get swept up in the hype around the debut of the first foldable iPhone, codenamed V68, expected to start near $2,000 and unveiled by incoming CEO John Ternus. “I’m afraid…that you might be overselling it,” he said, flagging Apple’s lagging AI position as a structural concern.
Meeks’s Memory Warning, In His Own Words Meeks identified the mechanism squeezing Apple: an entrenched supplier oligopoly. He called out the “big three oligopolies in memory,” Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung, controling roughly 90% of market share, adding:
“A company with the heft of an Apple has to pay more. Cost of goods sold goes up, gross margins go down. And it’s a real problem.”
Former CEO Tim Cook confirmed the pressure on Apple’s Q3 FY26 call. He described the environment as “a 100-year flood on the memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices” and said Apple “reluctantly raised prices.” CFO Kevan Parekh added that “more than 100% of that can be explained by the memory cost change” when explaining sequential margin compression.
Fundamentals Still Look Strong The warning lands against a genuinely powerful backdrop. Apple posted June-quarter revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% YoY, with EPS of $2.02 beating consensus by 6.80%, the ninth straight upside surprise. iPhone revenue reached $54.25 billion and Services hit $30.74 billion. The stock trades at $315.49, up 34.62% over one year, with a market cap of $4.61 trillion and a trailing P/E near 37.
But Cook flagged that “for September, we expect to pay even higher memory costs.” He further warned supply constraints will affect iPhone, Mac, and iPad. September-quarter gross margin guidance sits at between 47% and 48%, with roughly a point of that from tariff refunds.
Where the Money Went Meeks’s data point is Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the U.S. memory maker riding the same wave that is pinching Apple. Micron shares trade at $1,0001, up 640.4% over one year and 250.8% year to date. Fiscal Q3 revenue reached $41.46 billion, up 345.7% YoY, with gross margin of 84.6%. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said record results “reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era.”
Meeks expects the squeeze to persist, forecasting no relief in memory pricing for years. He points capital toward AI data-center names including CoreWeave, Applied Digital, and NVIDIA (we profiled seven suppliers powering that same buildout, from power to cooling, in a free AI infrastructure report). Investors watching today’s launch should keep an eye on the stock, but also on Apple’s next margin commentary.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple's new CEO John Ternus faces his first real test before he has even settled in, as customers weigh whether to absorb two price increases inside two weeks or simply sit out the upgrade cycle entirely.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) is asking customers to pay more on two fronts inside a fortnight, and the second raise arrives today. Apple stock trades at $316.06, down 0.1% in Wednesday morning trading, and it’s up 17% year to date.
Two broad benchmarks are drifting alongside the launch. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) trades at $763.94, down 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) sits at $718.29, practically unchanged.
Two Price Hikes in Two Weeks Apple raised the U.S. Apple TV subscription to $14.99 a month from $12.99, per a MacRumors report dated August 28. Today’s product event is expected to widen the hardware ask, with CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reporting the Street looks for like-for-like iPhone price increases of $200 to $500 versus comparable iPhone 17 models.
Former CEO Tim Cook had framed the hardware repricing as forced by supply-chain math on Apple’s fiscal Q3 2026 call, saying Apple “reluctantly raised prices” because of a “100-year flood on the memory pricing.” Apple posted revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year, with iPhone revenue of $54.3 billion and Services of $30.7 billion.
The Bundle Took a Raise, Too The streaming increase didn’t travel alone. Apple One Individual went to $21.95 a month from $19.95 on the same day, since the bundle carries Apple TV inside it. Apple One Family and Apple One Premier held steady that day, but only because both had already been raised in July alongside an Apple Music increase. Read across the summer and the count isn’t two price increases in a fortnight. It’s a rolling sequence that started well before the September event, with Apple One Individual the last plan to get pulled up to the new line.
The Apple TV ladder is steeper than the single step suggests. The service launched in 2019 at $4.99 a month. It moved to $6.99 in 2022, to $9.99 in 2023, to $12.99 in 2025, and now to $14.99, with the annual plan going to $119 from $99. That’s four increases against one launch price, and the U.S. wasn’t alone: Brazil, Chile and Mexico were repriced the same day, while every other market was left untouched.
The revenue lands on a delay, which matters for how fast any of this reaches the Services line. New subscribers pay the higher rate immediately, while existing subscribers are notified roughly a month before their renewal bills at the new price. That gap is also the window in which cancellations happen, so the increase gets tested by subscribers before it gets counted by Apple. Whether it holds is Ternus’s problem, not Cook’s.
Streaming Peers Face the Same Playbook Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) says its own hikes are landing well. Netflix Q2 2026 revenue reached $12.56 billion, up 13.4%, and Greg Peters stated “our recent price adjustments are going well on the pricing side.” Netflix stock is down 18% year to date.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) leaned on the same lever, with Entertainment SVOD subscription revenue growing 15% in fiscal Q3 2026 on rate and volume. Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) crossed 300 million Premium subscribers with ARPU up 7% to $5.63. Disney shares are down 8.27% year to date, and Spotify shares are down 8.93%.
What Ternus Inherits John Ternus stepped in as Apple’s chief executive on August 31, which means the streaming raise and the memory-cost reasoning both belong to Cook. What Ternus owns is execution: whether customers absorb a second increase inside two weeks or hold their current iPhone for another cycle.
Apple stock carries a P/E ratio of 41x and a market cap near $4.61 trillion, so pricing follow-through matters for the multiple. Investors can size their positions with room to add if the hardware bump sticks and its gross margin holds inside the guided 47% to 48% September-quarter range. Shareholders may want to keep an eye on whether iPhone upgrade rates cool after a $200 to $500 like-for-like step up.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple oznámil nejsilnější červnové čtvrtletí v historii: tržby 109,42 miliardy USD a EPS 2,02 USD, nad odhady. Firma zároveň čeká růst tržeb v září o 9 % až 11 %.
Apple just delivered its strongest June quarter ever, and one investor sees a clear path to $400 that gets easier to defend with every earnings report. Here is what the numbers reveal that Wall Street might still be underpricing.
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I keep hitting the buy button on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) because the math on a re-rating toward $400 keeps getting easier to defend, and every quarter Tim Cook hands me another reason to add. Shares closed at $319.97 on September 4, 2026, up 33.94% over the past year, and I am still adding.
Why I Keep Coming Back to the Same Ticker My thesis is simple. Apple runs a dual-engine business where a $54 billion hardware quarter now travels with a services annuity that keeps setting records, and management is retiring the share count fast enough to lift per-share earnings even in a flat quarter. That combination is what I keep paying for.
The Q3 FY26 report backs it up. Revenue landed at $109.42B, up 16.36% YoY, EPS came in at $2.02 vs $1.89 consensus, and that was the 9th straight EPS beat. iPhone revenue was $54.25B against $44.58B a year prior, and Services printed $30.74B. Cook called it “our strongest June quarter ever”, and this time the superlative fit.
Three Receipts That Keep Me Adding First, the Services engine. A 75.6% Services gross margin on $30.74B of quarterly revenue is a software business hiding inside a hardware wrapper, and paid subscriptions surpassed 1.5 billion. That is recurring income that compounds.
Second, the capital return program is doing the heavy lifting on per-share math. The board authorized a new $100 billion buyback and a 4% dividend increase in Q2 FY26. Apple has already repurchased $62.094B in the first nine months of FY26, on top of $90.711B in FY25 buybacks. The quarterly dividend sits at $0.27.
Third, the installed base of 2.5 billion+ active devices is the moat. Return on equity of 171.42% and return on invested capital of 53.35% tell you what that base does to profitability.
Path to $400 Written in the Estimates Analysts now model $9.5329 in FY27 EPS across 39 analysts. Our internal five-year base case models a final price of $508.47, with a bull case of $518.38 and a bear case ending at $358.68. That is the asymmetry I want in a core retirement holding.
Risk I Will Not Wave Away Q3 gross margin got a one-time lift from tariff refunds worth roughly two percentage points and 11 cents of EPS. Strip that out and next year’s comparisons get harder. Memory pricing is what Cook flagged as “a 100-year flood on the memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices”. Valuation is rich too, with a P/FCF of 47 and a yield of only 0.33%.
My thesis holds. Apple guided September-quarter revenue growth of 9% to 11% even with a 2.5 percentage point FX headwind, and iPhone and Mac demand is running so hot that Cook called the supply crunch “a demand forecast issue”. That is the problem I want a company I own to have.
Why the Buy Button Stays Active Services keep compounding, the buyback keeps shrinking the float, the installed base keeps feeding both. When a business earns $29.79B in a quarter and hands back $33 billion to shareholders, patience is the only edge I need. I plan to keep accumulating until $400 stops looking like a floor.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Longtime Apple executive Phil Schiller reportedly stepped away from running the App Store partly because he wanted no involvement with a push by the tech giant’s new leadership to squeeze more money from the lucrative platform.
Schiller, 66, a veteran of both the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook eras, remained in charge of the App Store and Apple’s splashy product-launch events after stepping down as the company’s marketing chief and becoming an Apple Fellow in 2020.
But new Apple CEO John Ternus and services boss Eddy Cue are looking for ways to wring greater profits and more repeat revenue from the App Store, Bloomberg reported over the weekend.
Longtime Apple executive Phil Schiller reportedly stepped away from running the App Store partly because he wanted no involvement with efforts to squeeze more revenue from the platform. SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images Schiller, by contrast, believed that pushing the App Store harder for profits would only inflame tensions with developers and governments, according to Bloomberg.
The disagreement never erupted into an internal clash, but Schiller reportedly shunned the strategy.
The Bloomberg report sheds new light on Schiller’s decision to relinquish oversight of the App Store, a business estimated to generate more than $30 billion a year that has faced mounting pressure from regulators and developers.
Schiller’s latest concerns echoed objections he privately raised over Apple’s efforts to collect commissions on outside purchases during its long-running legal battle with “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.
New Apple CEO John Ternus (pictured) and services chief Eddy Cue want to find ways to boost profits and recurring revenue from the App Store, according to Bloomberg. AFP via Getty Images In 2023, he opposed Apple’s plan to slap a 27% commission on purchases made on developers’ websites after users followed links from their apps, according to court records.
Schiller said internally that he had “many issues with the commission concept” and made clear he was “not on team commission/fee,” according to the records.
Apple’s chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, and other finance executives favored charging the commission, while Schiller opposed it and later testified that collecting fees from developers could damage Apple’s relationship with them.
Former Apple CEO Tim Cook sided with finance executives over Schiller in a 2023 dispute over charging commissions on purchases made outside the App Store, according to court records. AP Photo/Annie Mulligan CEO Tim Cook ultimately sided with Maestri’s camp. The decision later came back to haunt Apple.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in April of last year that Apple had willfully violated an earlier injunction stemming from the Epic case. In her blistering order, the judge singled out Schiller as having pushed Apple to comply with the injunction.
“Cook chose poorly,” Rogers wrote of the CEO’s decision to side with the finance team over Schiller.
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Rogers held Apple in civil contempt, ordered it to stop collecting commissions on purchases made through external links and required the tech giant to cover Epic’s legal fees stemming from the contempt fight.
A federal appeals court upheld the contempt finding in December 2025 but narrowed Rogers’ punishment, ruling that Apple could potentially charge developers a fee tied to legitimate costs and intellectual property used in facilitating outside purchases.
The episode marked a striking shift for an executive who had spent years publicly defending Apple’s tight control over the App Store.
“Fortnite” maker Epic Games challenged Apple’s App Store rules in a legal battle that eventually led a federal judge to hold Apple in civil contempt. REUTERS Schiller publicly argued in 2020 that the marketplace was designed around “one set of rules for everybody,” and defended Apple’s commissions by pointing to the company’s investments in app distribution, developer tools, security, privacy and payments.
But he had questioned the size of Apple’s cut as far back as 2011.
In an internal email disclosed in the Epic litigation, Schiller floated whether Apple should “ratchet down from 70/30 to 75/25 or even 80/20,” in terms of the split of profits between developers and Apple, if the App Store surpassed $1 billion in annual profit and could maintain that level.
After Schiller formally took charge of the App Store in 2015, Apple began introducing lower commission rates for some developers.
In 2016, the company cut its take on subscription revenue from 30% to 15% after customers remained subscribed for more than a year. Apple later introduced a program charging qualifying small developers a 15% commission.
Schiller nevertheless remained a tough enforcer of the App Store’s rules. The Post has sought comment from Apple.
Morgan Stanley čeká, že první skládací iPhone od Apple v prosincovém čtvrtletí přinese asi 14 miliard USD tržeb z 6,5 milionu kusů. Wall Street ale varuje, že vysoké ceny mohou spustit reakci typu sell-the-news.
Buy Apple (AAPL). The foldable is modeled to add ~$14B quarterly revenue on ~6.5M units, and Apple doesn’t need mass adoption—premium pricing can lift average selling price and ecosystem pull. If Apple frames demand as supply-constrained (initial demand > supply) and holds upgrade momentum, the market’s “sell-the-news” fear fades fast.
Key Risk: Apple guides to weaker-than-expected foldable demand because the price jump triggers sticker shock and unit volumes disappoint.
AAPL price-elasticity hedge
Sell Apple (AAPL) into the event if management signals broad price increases without clear demand strength. The setup is a valuation that already ran up ~20% this year; if investors conclude demand is elastic, the stock can re-rate quickly on “expectations vs. reality.”
Key Risk: Apple’s guidance shows demand is strong enough to offset higher component costs, preventing a sell-the-news re-rating.
Apple could be one day away from unveiling a new iPhone capable of generating $14 billion in quarterly revenue, but Wall Street thinks the event could become a sell-the-news moment.
Morgan Stanley expects Apple’s first foldable iPhone to ship about 6.5 million units in the December quarter, generating roughly $14 billion, or 16% of iPhone revenue.
But the launch may bring some of Apple’s steepest price increases in years.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring called the foldable “the biggest iPhone form-factor change since iPhone X.”
The bank expects Apple to build 7 million to 8 million foldable units in the second half of 2026 and as many as 20 million over the first product cycle. Initial demand is expected to exceed supply.
The revenue math is powerful because the device is expected to carry a high price. Morgan Stanley models the 512GB version at about $2,399, while a 2TB model could reach $3,199.
Apple therefore does not need the foldable to replace hundreds of millions of conventional iPhones immediately.
A small number of premium buyers could generate billions in additional sales because each unit may cost more than twice as much as a standard flagship.
That makes the foldable financially meaningful long before it becomes mainstream.
The problem is that the foldable is arriving as Apple faces higher memory costs.
AI data-centre demand has pushed up prices for DRAM and NAND, forcing smartphone makers to choose between absorbing higher component costs or passing them on to customers.
KeyBanc Capital Markets sees that trade-off as a negative catalyst.
According to Investing.com, the firm warned that broad price increases could trigger “sticker shock” and hurt unit volumes. It kept an Underweight rating and a $250 price target.
Morgan Stanley also expects Pro-model prices to rise by more than $200 year on year, making the September 9 launch a test of demand elasticity.
That matters because Apple shares have gained nearly 20% this year. The stock closed at $319.97 on September 4, leaving investors heading into the event with optimism embedded in the valuation.
If prices surprise on the upside but demand expectations do not, the launch could quickly become a sell-the-news event.
The bullish counterargument is that Apple’s customers may be better equipped to absorb higher prices.
Citi analyst Asiya Merchant said Apple should remain “one of the most resilient vendors through the downturn,” citing its premium customer base, financing options and access to components.
That resilience matters because the foldable is a halo product. Apple does not need enormous volumes if the device lifts average selling prices, attracts affluent users and strengthens the ecosystem.
IDC expects Apple to ship more than 17 million foldable iPhones by 2027, capturing roughly 40% of the foldable market. The research firm also expects the category to generate more than $45 billion in value for Apple by then.
But tomorrow’s event is still a test of expectations as much as technology.
Apple čelí nedostatku paměťových čipů, protože datová centra pro AI pohlcují kapacitu a ceny některých pamětí se více než zčtyřnásobily. Ohrožuje to marže iPhonu, který tvoří 49,6 % čtvrtletních tržeb.
AI servers are absorbing premium memory capacity while Apple tries to protect hardware margins. Summary
Memory inflation now threatens a product category supplying nearly half of Apple’s quarterly revenue.
Apple AAPL, the consumer-technology giant, faces a tightening memory crunch as artificial-intelligence data centers swallow an expanding share of global chip capacity. The Verge reported Monday that some smartphone-memory prices have more than quadrupled, with meaningful relief potentially delayed until late 2027 or 2028. Apple shares last closed at $319.97 because U.S. markets were shut Monday.
Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron command roughly 90% of the memory market. Manufacturers can earn more by steering scarce wafer capacity toward the high-bandwidth memory demanded by deep-pocketed AI customers, leaving smartphone producers fighting over conventional DRAM supply. Apple's enormous purchasing power offers leverage, but it cannot manufacture new factories overnight.
The financial stakes are substantial. Apple's latest statements show $54.25 billion of iPhone revenue, representing 49.6% of quarterly sales, while companywide gross margin reached 50.1%. The shares trade 12.35% above the GF Value estimate of $284.79, signaling that investors already expect Apple to defend margins despite rising component costs. Premium models and price increases could absorb part of the pressure, but customers must remain willing to pay more for each upgrade.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Tim Cook po 15 letech odstoupil z funkce generálního ředitele společnosti Apple; akcie za jeho éry přinesly celkový výnos 2 720 % včetně dividend. Nový šéf John Ternus přebírá firmu v době tlaku na marže a očekávání kolem Apple Intelligence.
Tim Cook just stepped down as CEO of Apple (AAPL -2.51%) after a storied 15-year tenure. During his time as CEO, Apple stock returned 2,720% to investors, including dividends, which is a tough act to follow. The pressure is on for new CEO John Ternus as he takes the reins. Here's what to expect.
More than an apple a day The first iPhone came out in 2007, when Steve Jobs was still CEO, and Tim Cook turned it into the world's top-selling smartphone. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple accounted for the three top-selling smartphones in the 2026 second quarter, and according to Statista, there are an estimated 1.6 billion active units today, with the company shipping nearly 248 million units in 2025 alone. iPhone sales have increased by more than 20% over the past three quarters,and The Wall Street Journal has called it "the most lucrative product in history."
Apple CEO John Ternus. Image source: Apple.
Cook also developed several significant products and services over his time as CEO, including Apple Pay and Apple TV streaming, and he got the company started with Apple Intelligence. However, while Apple's hyperscaler competitors have launched major artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, Apple has lagged.
Can Ternus deliver? There had been reports of several candidates for Cook's replacement, and the choice of Ternus, who had previously headed the company's hardware division, tells shareholders how it's thinking about the future. Apple's edge is in hardware, where it differs from the other major tech giants; most of them are software companies. It has grown in importance through its focus on the user experience and ecosystem, which is what brings loyal customers back again and again.
However, Ternus is taking on the top role at a time when Apple is facing challenges. Management has said that soaring memory prices are leading to some price hikes, and it's already feeling some margin pressure. The market is highly anticipating developments in Apple Intelligence, and the updated Siri voice assistant is rolling out. Apple stock briefly surpassed $5 trillion before the latest earnings report, but it fell on the news of margin pressure and the guidance for lower iPhone sales growth.
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These are short-term factors, though. Ternus can revive the stock if Apple Intelligence impresses investors and if the company creates the kind of innovations it's known for. Ternus was on the 2026 fiscal third-quarter earnings report (ended June 27), but so far, shareholders haven't heard too much from him.
Apple has its Surprise and Shine event on Sept. 9, where it's expected to launch several iPhone 18 models, as well as the iPhone Ultra foldable phone and other new products. It will be the first time investors get to hear Ternus as CEO.
Keep in mind, though, that even if Ternus is successful in bringing Apple into a new era, it isn't possible to deliver another 2,720% in gains for Apple stock. The base is just too big for that kind of growth. It can still offer value to shareholders, but that kind of growth is only possible for new start-ups.
Apple ve středu představí první skládací iPhone, což bude pro nového CEO Johna Ternuse první velký test. Firma zároveň chystá i iPhone 18 Pro a Pro Max s čipem A20 a vyšší cenou.
Apple is expected to unveil its most radical iPhone redesign in years this Wednesday — giving new CEO John Ternus an early test of whether he can reignite innovation at the tech giant during a challenging time.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is set to introduce its first-ever foldable iPhone at its annual product showcase, alongside new high-end iPhone 18 models and possible updates to its home and wearable devices, according to reports.
The new tech — rumored to have names like “iPhone Ultra” or “iPhone fold” — is expected to be about the size of a passport when fully folded, with the capacity to fold out to a wider display with a roughly 4:3 aspect ratio.
John Ternus (pictured) took over as Apple CEO from Tim Cook on Sept. 1, ending Cook’s 15 years at the helm. Apple Inc./AFP via Getty Images The foldable would represent a significant departure from the familiar iPhone design and arrives as Apple searches for another breakout hardware success.
Its Vision Pro headset, which debuted to much fanfare in 2024, has yet to connect with consumers.
The launch comes just days after Ternus took over from longtime CEO Tim Cook last Tuesday. The 50-year-old Apple veteran previously ran the company’s hardware division.
He inherited a company facing questions about its artificial intelligence strategy — including a long-delayed overhaul of Siri — and whether it can deliver another blockbuster product as its existing lineup ages.
Whether a new crop of products can meet picky customers’ demands will be one of the main questions in the air on Wednesday.
Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone on Wednesday, marking what could be the most radical redesign of its flagship device in years. YouTube/Bob Obba Apple may unveil a long-rumored home hub featuring a display and smart-speaker capabilities that would serve as a central control point for connected devices and entertainment, according to Bloomberg.
Updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini are expected, with new internal hardware designed to accommodate Apple’s revamped AI-powered Siri, the outlet reported.
The company is expected to refresh its wearables, too, with new AirPods and Apple Watch models including the Series 12 and Ultra 4.
Tim Cook stepped down as Apple CEO on Sept. 1 after 15 years leading the tech giant. AP Photo/Annie Mulligan The watches are set to receive chip upgrades aimed at expanding their fitness features without a major exterior redesign.
Apple is also expected to showcase the finished versions of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27. The foldable is expected to run an iteration of iOS 27 adapted for its two-display configuration.
Rollouts of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are reportedly on the way, too.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max on Wednesday, with upgrades including faster chips and improved cameras. Apple The Pro handsets are expected to feature Apple’s new A20 chip along with camera upgrades, changes to the Dynamic Island and additional color options.
The standard iPhone 18 and a successor to the iPhone Air, however, reportedly won’t arrive alongside the Pro models.
Apple is set to begin splitting its iPhone launches between the fall and the spring, with reveals of the iPhone 18 and new iPhone Air coming in March, according to Fast Company.
One of the biggest questions Wednesday will be what Apple charges for the new lineup.
The company raised prices on iPads, Macs and home products over the summer amid an AI-fueled memory shortage, but spared the iPhone from those increases.
That reprieve is likely to end with the iPhone 18 Pro series, which is expected to carry higher prices than the current models.
Apple is preparing for a closely watched product launch on Sept. 9, with the company expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and its first foldable iPhone.
The event will be the first major product launch overseen by new CEO John Ternus.
The launch comes after the iPhone 17 lineup helped Apple gain smartphone market share despite a broader industry downturn.
The company now faces the challenge of maintaining that momentum while introducing new devices and artificial-intelligence features.
Apple shares AAPL have gained 18% this year, adding significance to the upcoming product cycle for investors.
The upcoming iPhone launch is expected to differ from Apple's traditional annual refresh.
The standard iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Air are reportedly not expected at the September event and could instead arrive in spring 2027.
The iPhone 17 and 17 Air are expected to remain available until their successors launch, while Apple focuses its immediate attention on its higher-end models.
Supply-chain constraints are one factor behind the staggered release.
According to Counterpoint Research associate director David Naranjo, strong demand for the iPhone 17 lineup has contributed to shortages of semiconductor processors, while a global memory shortage linked to the artificial-intelligence boom has increased component costs.
“The memory constraints and inflation that’s happened across the board indicates that Apple is really looking at the premium SKUs to try to maximize revenue and somewhat protect their margins,” Naranjo told MarketWatch.
The strategy could also benefit from demand among customers who are less sensitive to higher prices. Apple has so far avoided raising prices on its core iPhone lineup, with the iPhone 17 starting at $799.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring has speculated that Apple could raise prices by $200 across the iPhone 18 lineup.
Jefferies analyst Edison Lee has warned that pricing decisions could affect sales volumes and profitability in the coming quarters.
The most closely watched product is expected to be Apple's first foldable iPhone, potentially called the iPhone Ultra.
The device would represent Apple's first new iPhone form factor since the iPhone X launched in 2017 and would place the company directly into a category already developed by competitors such as Samsung and Huawei.
Industry estimates put the foldable's starting price at around $2,000, with higher-storage versions potentially reaching $3,000.
Prediction-market traders on Polymarket assigned an 87% probability to a starting price of at least $2,000, while the implied consensus placed the most likely price between $2,200 and $2,300.
Reports suggest the device could feature a book-style design, with an outer display of between 5.3 and 5.5 inches and an inner screen measuring between 7.6 and 7.8 inches.
Other reported features include a titanium frame, an ultra-thin design and a display designed to minimize the visible crease.
The foldable is expected to serve as a premium “halo product,” according to Naranjo, potentially creating a new upgrade cycle and expanding Apple's addressable market.
Artificial intelligence will also be central to the upcoming product cycle.
Apple is expected to introduce a revamped Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, following delays to features originally announced in 2024.
Apple Intelligence uses a combination of on-device processing, Apple's Private Cloud Compute and third-party models, with user permission for more complex requests.
The upgraded Siri is designed to synthesize information across messages, emails and photos and perform multistep actions across applications.
The company has increased memory capacity in its devices to support these capabilities, adding to supply-chain pressures.
Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said in a Market Watch report that Apple previously “overpromised and massively underdelivered” on its AI ambitions.
He added that a new CEO with a stronger product focus could help Apple navigate the changing expectations around AI and new device formats.
The iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to feature the A20 Pro chip based on a 2-nanometre process. Apple is also expected to introduce new Apple Watch models and AirPods updates at the event.
For investors, the launch will provide an early test of whether Apple's premium-focused strategy can sustain the momentum generated by the iPhone 17 lineup.
Pricing, availability, AI capabilities and the reception of the foldable iPhone could all influence expectations for Apple's next stage of growth.
Apple chystá uvedení iPhonu 18 Pro s čipem A20 Pro a prvního skládacího iPhonu Ultra. V červnovém čtvrtletí tržby z iPhonů vzrostly o 22 % na 54,3 mld. USD.
Key Takeaways Apple's launch may bring the iPhone Ultra, A20 Pro-powered iPhone 18 Pro models and Siri AI.iPhone sales jumped 22% to $54.3B in fiscal Q3, while Apple's total revenues rose 16% to $109.4B.Supply constraints, rising memory prices and a 33.6x earnings multiple raise near-term risks for AAPL. Apple (AAPL - Free Report) has its product launch event, “Surprise and Shine," on Wednesday. This launch will be special as it's the first under CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1 after Cook's nearly 15-year run.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, powered by a new A20 Pro chip built on a 2-nanometer process. Design-wise, these models won't stray far from last year's iPhone 17 Pro, though the Pro Max may get a size and weight bump for a larger battery, per MacRumors. New Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models are also expected.
The real talking point is Apple's first foldable phone, rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra. It will fold like a book— about 5.5 inches closed and 7.6 inches open. This would be Apple's biggest design change in years, and it would put the company up against Samsung and Google, who already sell foldable phones. One can expect a high price tag for the foldable phone.
Year to date, shares of Apple have risen 18%, outperforming close peers like Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) .
YTD Price Performance Comparison Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
With shares having a good run and the launch just ahead, investors may be wondering if now's the time to buy. Let's dig deeper.
AAPL's Business Looks Healthy, But Challenges LoomIn the June quarter, iPhone revenues jumped 22% year over year to $54.3 billion, and total revenues rose 16% to $109.4 billion. Management guided 9% to 11% growth for the September quarter, with iPhone revenue growth in the mid-teens. So, demand isn't the problem.
The real issue is supply and cost. Apple has warned that supply chain constraints are expected to hit iPhone, Mac and iPad availability. The main bottleneck is limited capacity for its most advanced chips, and memory prices are expected to keep climbing. June-quarter gross margin came in at 50.1%, aided by tariff refunds, but management expects that to compress to 47%-48% in the fiscal fourth quarter.
Growth Story Intact, But Stock is PriceyApple's long-term story still looks strong— more devices, more AI features, a growing services business, and steady cash returned to shareholders. All these support growth over time.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAPL’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 18% and 8%, respectively.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
But the stock isn't cheap. Apple trades at about 33.6 times earnings. Compare that to Alphabet at 20.4 times and Microsoft at 24.7 times. Apple is priced much higher than its rivals.
AAPL's P/E F12M Vs. MSFT & GOOGL Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Our TakeApple has real reasons for excitement— its first foldable phone, a smarter Siri, and a new CEO trying to make his mark. But the stock is already expensive at current levels, leaving little room for mistakes. Add rising costs and supply shortages, and the risk feels higher than the reward right now. It's smarter to wait and see how the launch plays out before jumping in.
Apple is still a good company to hold for the long run but right now, it's not a “Buy.” The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Huawei a Xiaomi představí nové skládací telefony jen pár dní před očekávaným uvedením prvního skládacího iPhonu od Apple. Tím se v Číně zostřuje konkurence v segmentu prémiových chytrých telefonů.
China's premium smartphone market is heating up, with Huawei and Xiaomi moving to showcase new foldable devices just days before Apple
AAPL -2.51% 96
is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone.
Huawei Technologies plans to unveil the Mate XT 2 on Monday, the latest version of its ultra-premium trifold smartphone. The device features two folding mechanisms and is designed to combine the functions of a conventional smartphone with a larger tablet-like display.
Xiaomi is also preparing a major launch, with its Xiaomi 18 Fold set to debut later Monday. The passport-style device resembles the design expected from Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone and will use Xiaomi's in-house Xring O3 processor and memory supplied by China's CXMT.
The launches highlight China's push for domestic smartphone technology and supply-chain independence while intensifying competition ahead of Apple's entry into the category.
Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam expects Apple's massive premium-device installed base to help its foldable gain market share quickly. He also sees the launch potentially boosting broader consumer interest in foldable smartphones, benefiting rivals as adoption expands.
Apple (AAPL) stock fell about 2% on Friday as investors weighed reports that initial production of the company’s long-awaited foldable iPhone remains limited, raising concerns about whether Apple can meet demand when the device launches.
According to a Nikkei Asia report, production of the foldable iPhone was running at only a few hundred units per day in late August.
The report attributed the slow initial output primarily to Apple’s stringent quality-control requirements, while the company and its suppliers work to increase production.
The production constraints come shortly before Apple’s Sept. 9 launch event, where the company is expected to unveil its latest iPhone lineup.
The foldable model represents an important product milestone for Apple as it enters a category that competitors including Samsung and Huawei have developed for years.
Apple has reportedly targeted production of 8 million to 10 million foldable iPhones this year.
However, the company could fall short of that target if production does not accelerate, according to the Nikkei Asia report.
One supply chain manager familiar with the situation told Nikkei Asia that Apple has “very high quality requirements” and conducted an additional trial run in August ahead of actual production.
The source said output was only a few hundred units per day in late August and warned that the initial volume could be challenging to match with market demand.
Industry executives cited by Nikkei Asia said tens of thousands of devices would normally need to be produced each day to meet Apple’s planned production target.
The company has also encountered engineering and test-production challenges.
Apple is reportedly requiring more stringent durability testing than rival smartphone makers, including more extreme testing conditions, a higher number of folding cycles and greater screen flatness.
“The surface flatness and the performance of the hinge are among the details where Apple is asking for better production yields,” another person familiar with the situation told Nikkei Asia.
Two people familiar with the situation also told Nikkei Asia that Apple conducted an additional verification process in August to ensure the foldable iPhone could be mass-produced according to its specifications.
That process reportedly delayed commercial production by several weeks.
The foldable iPhone production challenges come as the broader smartphone industry faces shortages of memory and other electronic components.
The shortages have been linked to the massive buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
IDC’s latest forecast projects that the global smartphone market will decline 16.7% this year, while the memory shortage is expected to push average smartphone selling prices up by around 27.6%.
Apple has so far been less affected than some of its more price-sensitive Chinese competitors, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
IDC data showed Apple’s global smartphone market share rose to 20.2% in the April-to-June quarter, compared with 16.3% a year earlier.
The company is also reportedly prioritizing its three most premium iPhone models this year to optimize memory allocation and marketing resources.
The standard iPhone launch has been pushed to next spring, according to an earlier Nikkei Asia report.
The foldable iPhone could therefore arrive at a time when Apple is balancing premium product demand with component constraints.
Huawei is also preparing to release its latest generation of triple-fold phones, increasing competition ahead of Apple’s launch.
Despite the production concerns, the foldable iPhone is viewed as a significant milestone for Apple.
The device would mark the company’s entry into a smartphone segment already served by competitors such as Samsung and Huawei.
The new form factor could potentially create a new premium upgrade cycle for the iPhone, expand Apple’s addressable market and provide an additional growth driver as the broader smartphone market faces pressure.
Citi expects Apple’s first foldable iPhone, potentially called the iPhone Ultra, to start at more than $2,000.
The firm also expects the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models to cost about $200 more than their predecessors.
Citi analyst Atif Malik said the iPhone lineup is expected to receive several major upgrades, including the A20 chip, variable-aperture main cameras on the Pro and Pro Max models, and Apple’s own modems.
The foldable model is expected to feature dual front and rear camera systems, an OLED display with an ultra-thin glass cover for the inner screen, and increased component content in areas including the battery, vapor-chamber cooling system and structural components.
Apple’s Sept. 9 event will also be notable as the first major product launch under new CEO John Ternus, who officially succeeded Tim Cook on Sept. 1. Ternus, a longtime Apple hardware executive, has described the upcoming launch as a major one.
Akcie Apple v pátek klesly asi o 1,1 % poté, co se Face ID dostalo do patentového sporu s dceřinou společností BASF trinamiX. Spor se týká sedmi patentů a může zasáhnout iPhone a iPad Pro.
Seven disputed patents touch products responsible for almost 60% of Apple's fiscal-year-to-date revenue. Summary
Unspecified damages look manageable; a broad product remedy would create the harder problem.
Apple AAPL fell approximately 1.1% to $324.66 Friday as a new patent battle dragged Face ID into the courtroom. Reuters reported that BASF subsidiary trinamiX claims Apple violated seven patents tied to technology that distinguishes real skin from spoofing materials.
The Texas lawsuit reaches across multiple generations of iPhones, iPad Pro models and other Apple devices. TrinamiX is pursuing unspecified damages and an injunction against further infringement. The case remains an allegation, not a judgment, and Apple had not issued a public response when Reuters published its report.
The financial exposure runs straight through Apple's biggest profit engine. Its financial statements show that iPhones and iPads generated a combined $218.22 billion during the nine months ended June 27—59.9% of total revenue. Meanwhile, the stock sits 14.1% above its $284.55 GF Value™, signaling that investors are still paying a premium despite the legal cloud. A licensing payment could be absorbed. A forced redesign would carry a much sharper bite.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Apple se chystá 9. září představit první skládací iPhone na první akci pod vedením Johna Ternuse po jeho nástupu do role CEO 1. září. TrendForce očekává zdražení celé řady o 10 % až 20 %, u iPhonu 18 Pro až na 1 319 USD.
Apple Inc. AAPL fell 0.34% intraday ahead of a September 9 product launch that will be the first under John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook as CEO on September 1. The company is expected to introduce its first foldable iPhone at the event, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
TrendForce estimates memory costs for the 256-gigabyte iPhone 18 Pro at nearly 400% above where they sat a year ago. Its projection is that Apple raises prices across the lineup by 10% to 20%, putting the Pro at as much as $1,319 against $1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro. The research firm called that a "moderate pricing approach," while Apple is expected to absorb part of the increase. The first foldable starts between $2,099 and $2,299 on TrendForce's estimate.
KeyBanc reads it as a problem either way. In a note reiterating an Underweight rating and $250 target, the firm argued a large increase eases gross margin pressure but hits unit volumes and risks sticker shock, while a more selective increase leaves the margin question open and invites more hikes later.
Citi označila iPhone 18 za klíčový katalyzátor pro dodavatele Apple a vyzdvihla hlavně Lens Tech, Lingyi, Amphenol, Largan, Sunny, AAC, Alps Alpine, Kioxia, Luxshare a TSMC. První skládací model iPhone Ultra má mít cenu nad 2 000 USD.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) was the focus of a supply-chain preview from Citi on Friday, highlighting the upcoming iPhone 18 family as a key catalyst for component suppliers.
With shares trading at $328.21, the iPhone 18 lineup is expected to launch on 9 September, featuring Pro models priced roughly $200 higher than their predecessors.
At the centre of the preview is the tech giant's first foldable device, likely to be called the iPhone Ultra, which the bank expects to have a starting price above $2,000.
That foldable flagship is projected to feature dual front and dual rear cameras alongside an inner foldable display fitted with an ultra-thin glass and OLED cover.
Major hardware upgrades across the range could include A20 chips, an Apple-designed modem, and a variable-aperture main camera for the Pro and Pro Max models.
Following supply-chain underperformance during the June to August restocking period, the note states that the sector is likely to see a rally before launch and potential profit-taking afterwards.
Suppliers tied to the foldable device may face tight initial component supply and extended lead times, particularly for batteries, vapour chamber heatsinks, and structural parts.
Within the production network, Citi highlighted a preference for major share and content gainers such as Lens Tech, Lingyi, Amphenol, Largan, Sunny, AAC, Alps Alpine, Kioxia, Luxshare, and TSMC.
Crucial upcoming catalysts for the sector include initial sales and shipping schedules, as well as subsequent supply chain order adjustments.
Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management ve 2. čtvrtletí snížila svůj podíl v Apple o 2,3 % a po prodeji držela 109 006 akcií. Apple zůstává její největší pozicí.
Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,006 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,527 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 8.3% of Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.1% in the first quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.3% during the first quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,151,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $292,202,000 after purchasing an additional 23,162 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Key Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of Apple’s September 9 product event, the first major launch under new CEO John Ternus. Ternus described the event as “phenomenal,” raising expectations for new premium iPhones and the company’s first foldable iPhone. Apple’s New CEO Teases “Phenomenal” iPhone Launch Positive Sentiment: The foldable iPhone could provide a significant new growth catalyst. Morgan Stanley estimates the device could contribute approximately $14 billion to the December quarter, while other projections suggest strong market share and premium pricing potential if demand materializes. Apple’s Foldable iPhone May Contribute $14 Billion Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $360 price target, supporting the view that Apple’s product pipeline and earnings growth can justify its premium valuation. Apple’s services business also continues to benefit from price increases to Apple TV and Apple One. Apple TV Price Hike Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has formally succeeded Tim Cook, while Cook remains executive chairman. The structure provides continuity and preserves Cook’s government and China relationships, but Ternus must prove that a product-focused strategy can improve Apple’s position in AI. Apple Leadership Transition Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple to Underperform, reportedly citing the cancellation of an all-glass MacBook or foldable MacBook project and skepticism that the foldable iPhone will be more than a niche product. Jefferies Downgrades Apple Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) UK lawsuit alleging that its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly restrict third-party developers while favoring Apple’s own advertising services. BASF has also filed a separate patent lawsuit over face-authentication technology. BASF Patent Lawsuit Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs could lift iPhone production expenses sharply, forcing Apple to raise prices, accept lower margins or risk weaker demand. Analysts remain divided, with DA Davidson maintaining a Neutral rating and a $270 price target. Apple Product and Leadership Outlook Negative Sentiment: An Apple senior vice president sold 1,439 shares worth about $456,000. The sale was relatively small, leaving the executive with nearly 35,800 shares, but it may add modestly to near-term investor caution. Apple Insider Trading Filing Analyst Ratings Changes AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $285.56 to $263.66 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.61. Get Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,345,787.90. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 5,872 shares of company stock worth $1,823,201 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Trading Up 1.0% Shares of AAPL stock opened at $328.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $225.95 and a 1-year high of $344.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. Apple’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.
Apple Company Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Apple The Path to $230 Billion: Broadcom Outlines the Next Phase of Its AI Growth Story NVIDIA’s Hugging Face Deal Raises a Bigger Question About Its AI Moat Now Dropping the Dough: Yum! Brands Strategically Trims the Fat These 3 Stock Charts Just Flashed the Dreaded Death Cross Pattern Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report).
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Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services ve 2. čtvrtletí zvýšila svůj podíl v Apple o 17,1 % na 2 717 869 akcií po nákupu dalších 396 888 kusů. Podíl měl hodnotu 786,4 mil. USD.
Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 17.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,717,869 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 396,888 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.8% of Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $786,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in Apple by 890.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after acquiring an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research began coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.61.
View Our Latest Report on AAPL Apple Trading Up 1.0% AAPL opened at $328.21 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $314.94 and its 200 day moving average is $290.13.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.
Apple News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is building ahead of Apple’s September 9 product event, the first major launch under new CEO John Ternus. Ternus described the event as “phenomenal,” raising expectations for new premium iPhones and the company’s first foldable iPhone. Apple’s New CEO Teases “Phenomenal” iPhone Launch Positive Sentiment: The foldable iPhone could provide a significant new growth catalyst. Morgan Stanley estimates the device could contribute approximately $14 billion to the December quarter, while other projections suggest strong market share and premium pricing potential if demand materializes. Apple’s Foldable iPhone May Contribute $14 Billion Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $360 price target, supporting the view that Apple’s product pipeline and earnings growth can justify its premium valuation. Apple’s services business also continues to benefit from price increases to Apple TV and Apple One. Apple TV Price Hike Neutral Sentiment: John Ternus has formally succeeded Tim Cook, while Cook remains executive chairman. The structure provides continuity and preserves Cook’s government and China relationships, but Ternus must prove that a product-focused strategy can improve Apple’s position in AI. Apple Leadership Transition Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded Apple to Underperform, reportedly citing the cancellation of an all-glass MacBook or foldable MacBook project and skepticism that the foldable iPhone will be more than a niche product. Jefferies Downgrades Apple Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) UK lawsuit alleging that its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly restrict third-party developers while favoring Apple’s own advertising services. BASF has also filed a separate patent lawsuit over face-authentication technology. BASF Patent Lawsuit Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs could lift iPhone production expenses sharply, forcing Apple to raise prices, accept lower margins or risk weaker demand. Analysts remain divided, with DA Davidson maintaining a Neutral rating and a $270 price target. Apple Product and Leadership Outlook Negative Sentiment: An Apple senior vice president sold 1,439 shares worth about $456,000. The sale was relatively small, leaving the executive with nearly 35,800 shares, but it may add modestly to near-term investor caution. Apple Insider Trading Filing Insider Buying and Selling at Apple In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,872 shares of company stock worth $1,823,201. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
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Apple ruší plány na velký skládací MacBook a další OLED notebook, ale širší přechod na OLED displeje ponechává v platnosti. Zrušené produkty měly zahrnovat skládací MacBook s úhlopříčkou 16,1 až 18 palců po otevření a další notebook s panelem OLED o velikosti 14,4 až 16,1 palce. Omdia očekává OLED MacBook Pro s úhlopříčkou 14,3 a 16,3 palce na konec roku 2026.
Apple Abandons Large Foldable MacBook: New OLED MacBook Plans Revealed Summary
Apple cancels plans for a large foldable MacBook and another OLED model while keeping its broader OLED roadmap intact
Apple is reshaping its MacBook roadmap, dropping plans for two larger OLED models while keeping its broader transition to OLED screens on track, Omdia said.
The canceled products included a foldable MacBook designed to reach 16.1 to 18 inches when opened and another notebook planned with a 14.4-inch to 16.1-inch OLED panel. The move leaves the existing MacBook Pro size range of 14.3 to 16.3 inches intact.
Apple (AAPL) still plans to expand OLED technology across its MacBook and iPad products. Omdia expects 14.3-inch and 16.3-inch OLED MacBook Pro versions to arrive in late 2026, while current mini-LED models could stay available through at least 2028.
Looking further ahead, Apple is expected to introduce a 13.8-inch MacBook in 2029. The device could sit between the MacBook Air and Pro and feature touch-sensitive OLED technology and an under-display camera, according to Omdia.
The changes could keep Apple's OLED strategy in focus while raising questions about its longer-term MacBook product lineup.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Apple vyplatí čtvrtletní dividendu 27 centů na akcii a od roku 2012 ji zvyšuje každý rok. Firma má silné krytí z cash flow i hotovosti, takže patří k nejbezpečnějším dividendám v mega-cap technologiích.
Apple's dividend yield sits near the bottom of the S&P 500, yet the payout itself may be one of the most bulletproof in mega-cap tech. Here is what the numbers behind the tiny percentage actually reveal.
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Income investors rarely put Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) at the top of their shopping list, and the reason is simple: at $324.96 a share, the stock’s 0.32% yield barely registers next to a two-year Treasury. But yield is only half of a dividend’s story. The other half is whether the check keeps coming and keeps growing. On that scorecard, Apple’s latest payout looks like one of the sturdiest in the S&P 500.
Apple’s Latest Dividend Check Just Landed Apple’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 27 cents per share, with a record date of August 10, 2026 and a payable date of August 13, 2026. That matches the May distribution, which had lifted the quarterly rate 4% from the $0.26 paid in February. The forward annualized rate now sits at $1.08, with a trailing 12-month total of $1.06.
Apple reinstated its dividend in 2012 and has raised it every year since, a streak that now spans more than a decade of uninterrupted increases.
Why the Payout Grade Beats the Yield Grade Apple set a June-quarter record generating $34.4 billion in operating cash flow, while spending only $2.45 billion on capital expenditures. Dividends took $4 billion of that; buybacks took another $25.8 billion. Even after returning $33 billion to shareholders, the company still added to its cash pile.
Q3 diluted EPS came in at $2.02 against a 27-cent distribution, and full-year fiscal 2025 EPS reached $7.46. Against a $1.08 forward dividend, that leaves roughly seven dollars of earnings behind every dollar paid out. Free cash flow yield of 2.08% comfortably exceeds the 0.32% dividend yield, which is the cleanest signal that the payout is not living on borrowed time.
Balance Sheet Backup: $147 Billion in Reserve Apple closed the June quarter with $147 billion in cash and marketable securities against $84 billion in total debt. Net income margins of 26.9% and return on equity of 171.4% keep the funding pipeline overflowing. Annual dividend outlays have risen from $14.1 billion in fiscal 2019 to $15.4 billion in fiscal 2025, growth that has been dwarfed by cumulative buybacks exceeding $90 billion annually.
What to Watch Next Before his leave, Tim Cook flagged rising memory costs as a “100-year flood” and warned that Apple expects to “pay even higher Memory costs” in the September quarter. AI capex is climbing too. Neither pressure threatens the current dividend, but both will compete for the same cash the company has been recycling into buybacks. Apple trades at a P/E of 42, which is why the yield looks tiny. The payout itself grades out as one of the safest in mega-cap tech.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange
Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
Apple čelí v Londýně žalobě na 2 miliardy GBP (2,7 miliardy USD) za údajně neférová pravidla sledování aplikací. Žaloba tvrdí, že firma znevýhodnila vývojáře třetích stran.
Apple (AAPL.O) is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) London lawsuit brought on behalf of app developers over its app tracking rules, with the iPhone maker accused of abusing its power to unfairly impose greater restrictions on third parties.
The lawsuit, filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal on Thursday, follows years of regulatory scrutiny over Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature, which was launched in 2021.
Apple has said it introduced that feature to allow users to control whether to grant apps permission to track their activity across other companies' apps and websites.
Lawyers bringing the new lawsuit against Apple, though, say the feature imposed stricter requirements on third-party app developers than on Apple's own services, giving its advertising ecosystem a competitive advantage.
Ann Pope, a former senior official with Britain's Competition and Markets Authority who is leading the lawsuit, said Apple's policy "resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper".
"This action is important to protect the rights of British businesses that depend on Apple, to ensure that the rules that Apple applies are fair, and to compensate the losses that British companies have suffered," Pope said in a statement.
Apple, which has previously said its App Tracking Transparency provides "important privacy protections", did not immediately comment.
Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature has been the subject of investigations across Europe, in particular in Germany where Apple last month agreed changes to rules on how app developers can use personal data for targeted advertising.
The German competition authority had accused Apple of abusing its market power, after Facebook-owner Meta (META.O) plus publishers, advertisers and app developers – whose business models rely on advertising tracking – criticised the tool.
Regulators in France, Italy, Poland and elsewhere have also probed the App Tracking Transparency framework.
Apple čeká na zářijovou akci, kde má představit první skládací iPhone. Tržby z iPhonu ve 3. čtvrtletí dosáhly 54,25 miliardy USD, téměř poloviny celkových čtvrtletních tržeb.
The September 9 launch must defend a franchise supplying nearly half of Apple's quarterly revenue. Summary
Apple needs product excitement that converts into premium pricing.
Apple AAPL, the consumer-technology and digital-services powerhouse, slipped roughly 0.4% to $323.91 Wednesday as the clock ticks toward its September 9 product event. New iPhones will grab the headlines. But speculation around Apple's first foldable model could be the catalyst investors really care about.
Apple is not walking into this launch cold. Its third-quarter results packed real firepower: revenue soared 16% to $109.42 billion, while earnings per share surged 29% to $2.02. The company's financial statements showed iPhone revenue reaching $54.25 billion. That is nearly half of Apple's entire quarterly revenue machine.
Now the pressure is on. A foldable iPhone could crack open a lucrative premium market and spark a fresh upgrade wave—but Apple must nail the hardware, software and supply chain. The valuation snapshot shows the stock trading at $323.91, a hefty 13.91% above its $284.36 GF Value. Investors are already paying for excitement. Apple now needs to deliver it.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Apple má podle výkazu za FY2025 dluh 112,377 mld. USD, tedy téměř dvojnásobek dluhu Alphabetu. Alphabet mezitím zvýšil dlouhodobý dluh na 98,165 mld. USD a jeho volný peněžní tok se stal záporným na 5,86 mld. USD.
Jim Cramer called Apple's balance sheet pristine while slamming hyperscalers for wrecking theirs on AI data centers, but the actual filings tell a more complicated story about who is really carrying the heavier debt load.
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On Tim Cook’s final day as chief executive, Jim Cramer delivered a verdict that reframes the entire hyperscaler debate. Speaking on Mad Money on August 31, 2026, he called Apple’s balance sheet “pristine…the envy of the industry, maybe any industry” while accusing the AI infrastructure giants of the opposite sin.
“The hyperscalers have wrecked their balance sheets to build these data centers. They’re the ones to worry about, not Apple.”
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) closed FY2025 with $112.377 billion in total debt, $73.733 billion in equity, and retained earnings of negative $14.264 billion. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), the poster child for AI capex excess, closed the same year with $415.265 billion in equity and only $59.291 billion of debt.
Reading the Filings Side by Side Apple carries nearly twice the total debt Alphabet does, and its debt-to-equity ratio sits at 1.5241 versus Alphabet’s 0.1428. The negative retained earnings are the direct arithmetic of the buybacks Cramer praised in the same breath: Apple has repurchased $62.094 billion of stock in the nine months through June 27, 2026, on top of $90.711 billion in FY2025.
Alphabet’s leverage jumped fast this year. Long-term debt more than doubled from $46.547 billion at year-end 2025 to $98.165 billion by June 30, 2026, funding CapEx guided to $175 billion to $185 billion for 2026. The buyback program was suspended in Q2 2026. Free cash flow flipped to negative $5.86 billion.
Why the Market Isn’t Punishing Apple Cramer’s framing survives scrutiny for a reason: liquidity. Apple holds $39.544 billion in cash and $84.118 billion in long-term investments, a cushion that dwarfs the near-term maturities. Net debt to EBITDA sits at 0.528, and interest coverage on Alphabet’s side remains at 175.3x. Both companies remain financially sound.
Investors have voted with their wallets. Apple is up 16.87% year to date through September 2, 2026, versus Alphabet’s 8.56% gain. Apple trades at a 42 P/E multiple, roughly triple Alphabet’s 14.
What to Watch as Ternus Takes Over Bloomberg reports the John Ternus era begins after Cook’s 2,300% stock gain, with CNBC flagging AI challenges and a memory crunch ahead. If Apple accelerates its own AI infrastructure build, the buyback pace will collide with capex needs, and the “pristine” label will face its first real test. All that hyperscaler spending has to be powered, cooled, and networked by someone, and we pulled together seven suppliers doing exactly that in a free AI infrastructure report.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple schválil Timu Cookovi kompenzační balík ve výši 47 milionů USD, aby zůstal výkonným předsedou představenstva. Zahrnuje plat 2 miliony USD a akciovou odměnu s cílem 45 milionů USD pro fiskální rok 2027.
Tim Cook scores $47 million pay deal to stay on as Apple's chairman By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Tim Cook is Apple's executive chair and former CEO. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Tim Cook is no longer Apple's CEO, but he'll continue to collect a CEO-sized paycheck.
This week, Cook handed Apple's reins to John Ternus after 15 years in charge, and took on the role of executive chair.
Cook's new job pays a $2 million salary instead of $3 million, and comes with an annual equity award with a target value of $45 million for fiscal 2027, Apple said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Half of that award comprises performance-based restricted stock units (RSUs) that will vest based on Apple's total shareholder return relative to other S&P 500 companies. The other half is time-based and will vest over a four-year period.
As CEO, Cook earned around $74 million — including $14 million in cash bonuses and other compensation — in each of 2024 and 2025
Apple disclosed that Ternus will receive a $3 million annual salary and restricted stock with a target value of $55 million for his first year as CEO. A full 75% of the RSUs will be tied to Apple's relative performance, while 25% will vest over four years.
The iPhone maker didn't say how much Ternus and Cook stand to earn in cash bonuses.
The Buffett approachThe size of Cook's pay package signals he'll continue to play a central role at Apple.
Warren Buffett has taken a similar approach at Berkshire Hathaway, retiring as CEO at the turn of this year but staying on as chairman, serving as a close advisor to new CEO Greg Abel, and even picking stocks for Berkshire's portfolio.
Cook's compensation as chairman can also be seen as a reflection of the value he created for Apple. As CEO, he scaled Apple's manufacturing and distribution, strengthened its global supply chain, and successfully catered to China's burgeoning middle class.
Apple's split-adjusted stock price rocketed by nearly 2,300% during his tenure, from about $13 to $317 at the close of Cook's last day as CEO on Monday. It closed almost 3% higher at $325 on Tuesday.
That performance has fueled huge gains for shareholders. Buffett said during Berkshire's shareholder meeting in May that, under Cook, his $35 billion investment in Apple grew to $185 billion in value before taxes, including dividends.
"Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more than I have made Berkshire," Buffett told his shareholders last year.
Cook has also cultivated strong relationships with President Donald Trump and the Chinese government, which helped Apple navigate geopolitical turmoil in recent years. Ternus might call on him to work those connections in the future.
As Ternus grapples with challenges such as nailing down Apple's AI strategy and halting its talent exodus, Apple's senior leadership may have decided that keeping Cook on the payroll is worth the price.
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Theron Mohamed You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the International team at Business Insider. His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy.Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team then the broader International team. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team. He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street.Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and other elite investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people.Email Theron at [email protected] and follow him on X @theron_mohamed.
Tech Apple Tim Cook More Stocks Wealth AI Trump China Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway
Apple zvýšil cenu Apple TV a balíčku Apple One až o 20 %, což ukazuje na silnou cenovou sílu jeho služeb. Tržby ze služeb v posledním čtvrtletí dosáhly rekordních téměř 31 miliard USD.
A price rise on a television subscription might not sound like the sort of thing to move the needle on one of the world's most valuable companies. Yet the increase Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL pushed through last week, lifting the cost of its Apple TV service and its flagship Apple One bundle by up to 20%, speaks volumes about the strategy now driving the business, and by extension, its stock.
The timing is interesting. Apple shares are up 20% so far this year, and have been consolidating comfortably just below the all-time highs they set back in July. Layered on top of that is the fact that the new CEO, John Ternus, formally takes the reins this week. All told, last week’s seemingly straightforward price hike is actually a useful window into where the company, and its shares, might be heading next.
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Squeezing More From the EcosystemThe price rises themselves are straightforward enough. The monthly cost of Apple TV climbs to just under $15, its annual plan jumps to $119, and the all-in-one Apple One bundle edges up to nearly $22 a month. Taken alone, each is a modest sum, but together they reveal a clear direction.
What makes the move so significant is what it says about Apple's pricing power. The company is confident it can charge its enormous customer base up to 20% more for the same service without sending them running for the exits. For context, Apple TV's monthly price has tripled since it launched in 2019.
Underpinning that confidence is the sheer scale of Apple's ecosystem, with more than 1.5 billion paid subscriptions and an installed base topping 2.5 billion active devices. Bundling services together, as the Apple One subscription does, encourages customers to sign up for more of them and makes it harder to leave, quietly boosting both loyalty and the average revenue squeezed from each user.
Why Services Hold the KeyTo understand why any of this matters for the stock, you have to appreciate just how central services have become to the Apple story. Once a company defined almost entirely by the iPhone, Apple now leans heavily on a services division that has become its most prized growth engine.
The numbers explain the enthusiasm. Services revenue hit a record nearly $31 billion in the most recent quarter, up 12% year over year despite currency headwinds, with records across advertising, the App Store, music, and video. Crucially, Apple’s services unit is far more profitable than its hardware unit, so every dollar earned there has an outsized impact on Apple's bottom line.
This is the crux of the bull case. As rising memory and other component costs squeeze the profitability of Apple's hardware, a thriving, high-margin services business offers a powerful counterweight. Price rises like last week's feed directly into that engine, which is precisely why investors should be so excited.
The Other Side of the CoinNone of this is to say the path ahead is entirely smooth, and the more cautious voices have some fair points to make. For one, Apple's shares are hardly cheap, trading on a valuation that already assumes durable services growth, resilient iPhone sales, and successful execution of an AI strategy that has many investors scratching their heads. That leaves little margin for error should any of those pillars wobble.
More immediate pressures remain, too. Rising memory costs are set to weigh on hardware margins for the foreseeable future, and there's obviously a limit to how far Apple can keep raising prices before price-sensitive customers begin to balk. Even the mighty services arm isn't immune, and its growth rate has somewhat cooled from the brisker pace it set earlier in the year.
Then there is the great unknown of AI. Apple has been notably more cautious in this space than its rivals, and questions linger over whether it can turn its AI efforts into tangible sales and services revenue. For John Ternus, the new leader who stepped in Sept. 1, price rises like this one may buy some time, but proving Apple can hold its own in the AI age is likely to be the defining challenge of his tenure.
A Confident Signal in a Time of ChangeViewed as part of a bigger picture, last week's price rises point to a company executing confidently on the strategy investors most want to see: extracting ever more value from its vast, loyal customer base through high-margin services.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) Price Chart for Wednesday, September, 2, 2026
That's a reassuring signal at a moment of transition, and it suggests continuity in the approach that has served Apple so well in years past. The fact that its shares have been steadily recovering from their post-earnings dip to sit just shy of record highs, while the stock carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy, makes it hard to bet against Apple as the new era begins.
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Apple varuje, že obchodní tajemství vložená do AI mohou vést k „nevratnému“ a trvale se šířícímu využití těchto informací. Firma to uvedla v podání v rámci sporu s OpenAI.
Apple raises new concerns around clawing back trade secrets from an AI By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Apple raised concerns in a recent filing that trade secrets fed into an AI agent or model could create an "irreversible" use of that information. Abdul Saboor/Reuters Here's a novel problem companies may have to deal with in the AI era.
A nefarious Big Tech employee leaves for a competitor with trade secrets, feeds them to an AI agent or model while employed by the competitor, and runs some tests using those secrets.
Maybe the bad-apple employee then creates a new solution using that confidential knowledge, which the competitor benefits from. Or perhaps those secrets are stored in some knowledge base that an AI could retrieve if the nefarious employees' colleagues have a relevant question.
Apple raised that possibility in a supplemental brief filed Monday in support of its request for expedited discovery in its trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI.
In the filing, Apple's attorneys said a former employee's use of company secrets while employed by OpenAI and his "use of AI agents to learn to run simulations raise concerns extending beyond ordinary document theft."
"Where trade secret information is fed into an AI agent or model that 'learns' from it, such 'learning' may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the trade secret — harm that, at a minimum, is uniquely challenging to undo and requires prompt investigation," Apple's lawyers wrote.
The continued use of confidential information by a rival company is not a new problem. Artificial intelligence, however, is introducing a new wrinkle to the matter: How should companies regain control of their secrets after they've entered an AI system at a competing organization?
New risk, same remedies"Employees are already real loose cannons, walking around with knowledge in their heads," Camilla Hrdy, a law professor at Rutgers whose work examines trade-secret law and generative AI, told Business Insider. "Now they're taking that knowledge and plugging it into AI, and that could be a real loss of control. That is new."
Elon Musk's xAI raised a related but distinct AI-linked concern when it sued OpenAI, accusing Sam Altman's company of poaching staff to steal Grok's underlying technology.
That lawsuit said that, while Xuechen Li, a former xAI engineer, "had xAI's entire codebase stored in his personal cloud storage account, Li also had his personal ChatGPT account directly connected to his personal cloud storage account, set up as a connected 'Source' in OpenAI's ChatGPT." It added: "OpenAI had a means to access Li's files, which included the stolen copy of xAI's entire source code, through its ChatGPT service."
A judge dismissed the lawsuit in June.
Hrdy said these cases don't immediately call for novel legal solutions. Potential remedies often include telling a company to stop using the trade secrets, not to disclose any secrets, and to take steps to protect said secrets.
There are also damages to be assessed, Hrdy said: actual losses incurred from losing those secrets, or, in some cases, royalties to be paid to the affected company.
Can an AI unlearn secrets?Stopping trade-secret use by a rival company could pose technical challenges, depending on exactly how an employee applied confidential information to an AI system.
Sijia Liu, a computer science professor at Michigan State University, co-authored a paper on "machine unlearning" — the process of removing the influence of certain data, or capability, from an AI model.
He told Business Insider that if a document containing sensitive information is stored in a repository an AI system retrieves from, the remedy could be as relatively straightforward as deleting the file.
On the other hand, if sensitive information were used to train or fine-tune a model, it would require an entirely different, and likely resource-intensive, process.
"The second case could be more difficult because the influence of something is really difficult to evaluate," Liu said, adding that "you have to precisely define the boundary of unwanted capability."
A more immediate approach to containing secrets could be to build a "detection system" that flags sensitive user requests or sensitive information being passed between agents, Liu said. The detector could then trigger a hard stop in response to the request. Liu said that's not "true unlearning," but it is more practical.
To be clear, Apple did not say how the former employee may have used trade secrets with an AI, whether it was a one-off AI-assisted simulation or whether there was training that could affect a broader model.
An Apple spokesperson did not return a request for comment on this story.
Either way, AI may be bringing up new ways for companies to lose control of their secrets.
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Podle Daniela Newmana bude pro příštího CEO Apple klíčové opravit Siri, protože právě to může rozhodnout o pozici firmy v éře AI. Apple sice drží silnou distribuční pozici, ale jeho AI asistent zaostává.
Apple's next CEO inherits a trillion-dollar empire and a glaring weakness that rivals have exploited for years. A top tech analyst says fixing one product could determine whether Apple leads the AI era or gets left behind.
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Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, used a CNBC interview on August 31 to argue that incoming leadership at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) inherits a company with an unresolved AI problem alongside a fortress balance sheet.
Newman told CNBC, “Tim accomplished a lot in his time. It’s very hard to look at 2,200%+, becoming the world’s most valuable company by market cap.” He noted that Apple surpassed $5 trillion in market cap last month and that Cook spent $877 billion on buybacks, described in the segment as more than the entire Magnificent Seven combined. As of Monday, the stock trades at $314.76, up 17.92% year to date and 37.98% over the past year.
Tim Cook’s Apple Created Enormous Wealth In Newman’s assessment, Cook-era numbers are strong in absolute terms but undifferentiated relative to peers. “The performance was good. It was very good. But it was really kind of equal among peers. And Tesla, of course, blew it away on more of these massive trends that they were able to pick up in tailwinds,” he said.
Newman argues that Apple underperformed Google, Amazon, Tesla, and NVIDIA during the recent AI boom, and Apple’s diversification bets outside the phone did not connect: the headsets flopped, the car efforts failed, and the smart home never gained traction.
Financially, the current business runs hot. Apple reported Q3 FY2026 revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.36% year over year, with EPS of $2.02 versus an estimated $1.8914. iPhone contributed $54.3 billion, up 22%, and Services hit $30.7 billion, up 12%.
Why Siri Could Decide Apple’s AI Future Newman’s main point is that Apple still controls the surface where users meet AI, even if its AI assistant has lagged. “Siri hasn’t been as successful as I think many people had hoped. But having said that, the partnerships with Google, the fact that they are still the experience layer that so many of us are experiencing it on an Apple device, especially on the phone in the mobile side,” he said. Owning the interface layer differs from owning the underlying model, and Newman argues that leverage still matters.
On the Q3 call, Tim Cook said: “We were tremendously excited to unveil the all-new Siri AI, a completely reimagined version of Siri that is profoundly capable, deeply personal, and integrated seamlessly across our platforms.” R&D spending rose to $11.7 billion in Q3 2026, up from $8.9 billion year over year, and operating expenses climbed 23% year over year.
Why CEO John Ternus Could Signal a Return to Engineering Newman argues the bigger question is whether smartphones will remain the dominant device: “The question is, is the handset going to be the device of the future? We’ve seen the headsets kind of flop. Cars didn’t work out. Apple’s smart home never really became a thing,” he said.
Against that backdrop, Newman frames the leadership change as a deliberate tilt toward product invention: “Ternus is more of a hardware, he’s more of an engineering side, you know, go back to the Steve Jobs era. And they need that. They need to reinvent themselves, because I think getting Siri right is the first step.”
Key Takeaways Cook leaves Apple with enormous scale, cash flow and control over one of the world’s most important consumer computing platforms. But Newman argues that the next CEO will need to turn that distribution advantage into real AI leadership. Getting Siri right may be the first test.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple by měl v roce 2026 těžit ze slabšího Androidu, protože iOS má podle IDC klesnout jen o 1,3 % proti 24,3% propadu Androidu. V Číně ale může růst Huawei omezit jeho zisky na trhu.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be heading into one of the smartphone industry‘s toughest years in a stronger position than many investors realize.
While IDC (International Data Corp.) has sharply cut its 2026 global smartphone shipment forecast, JPMorgan argues the downturn is increasingly concentrated in segments of the market Apple barely serves—setting the stage for market share gains almost everywhere except China, where Huawei‘s resurgence could pose an obstacle.
Apple Smartphone Market ShareIDC now expects global smartphone shipments to fall 16.7% year over year in 2026, a steeper decline than its previous forecast of 13.9%, bringing annual shipments closer to 1 billion units. At first glance, the numbers paint a bleak picture for handset makers.
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, however, argues that the headline masks a more favorable competitive backdrop for Apple. According to IDC, iOS shipments are projected to decline just 1.3% next year, compared with a 24.3% drop for Android devices, lifting Apple’s operating system to a record 23.6% share of global smartphone shipments.
JPMorgan is even more optimistic, forecasting iPhone shipments to grow 1.3% to 243.8 million units in calendar 2026. Chatterjee attributes that resilience to Apple’s limited exposure to entry-level smartphones, where IDC expects the sharpest demand destruction, including a nearly 60% plunge in shipments of devices priced below $100.
The broader implication is that the industry’s contraction is becoming less about premium smartphones and more about the low-cost segment—a shift that naturally favors Apple.
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Apple’s Supply AdvantageThe brokerage also sees Apple’s supply chain as a key differentiator in an increasingly constrained market.
IDC expects memory prices to remain elevated through 2028, as NAND and DRAM costs have surged more than 300% year over year. Smaller Android manufacturers, with less purchasing power, are likely to face higher component costs and steeper price increases.
By contrast, JPMorgan believes Apple’s long-term supplier agreements, component pre-buys, vertical integration and purchasing scale should allow it to absorb some of those cost pressures. As a result, Chatterjee expects Apple to increase iPhone prices by less than the broader industry while continuing to compete in the premium segment.
In other words, Apple’s competitive edge may come less from introducing a breakthrough product and more from being better equipped to navigate a difficult supply environment.
Huawei Challenges Apple in ChinaWhile weakening Android demand should create opportunities for Apple across most markets, JPMorgan identifies Huawei as the key exception. IDC expects HarmonyOS shipments to roughly triple to 51 million units in 2026 as Huawei absorbs production capacity from smaller Chinese smartphone makers that are pulling back.
That distinction matters because it shifts the competitive equation in China. Rather than benefiting from broad Android weakness, Apple is more likely to compete directly against a strengthening Huawei ecosystem, making the Chinese market the biggest variable in Apple’s global market share story.
The key question is not whether the smartphone market shrinks in 2026, but whether Apple’s premium positioning and supply chain advantages allow it to gain market share despite the downturn. The one major caveat is China, where Huawei’s recovery could determine how much of that global opportunity Apple ultimately captures.
Apple varuje, že dražší paměťové čipy stlačí marže i prodeje iPhonů i po tomto čtvrtletí. CFO uvedl, že marže za zářijové čtvrtletí klesnou na 46,5 % z 48,1 % v červnovém čtvrtletí (po vyloučení celních benefitů).
On his last earnings call as Apple (AAPL -0.89%) CEO, Tim Cook said his company is facing a unique challenge due to a shortage of memory chips for its devices.
Data centers are gobbling up available memory, leaving Apple and its peers paying more for memory than in the past, and causing shortages. Cook said he anticipates "market pricing for memory continuing to increase, which could drive an increasing impact on our business."
Importantly, management said rising memory costs could affect iPhone sales and reduce the company's margins beyond the current quarter.
Cook's warning came as new Apple CEO John Ternus just took the helm at the company. Here's what Apple shareholders need to know about the memory shortage's impact on Apple's margins.
Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus. Image source: Apple.
Cook said on the third-quarter earnings call that Apple has consistently anticipated paying more for memory in each subsequent quarter. And that's exactly what's happened. Cook noted:
"As I alluded to last quarter, we expected to pay significantly more in the June quarter than the March quarter, and that is what happened.... For September, we expect to pay even higher memory costs..."
While Apple has the benefit of pre-purchasing memory at a lower cost, Cook said this benefit is declining over time and will continue to do so beyond the September quarter because prices keep rising.
Apple raised prices on its Macs in June and is widely expected to increase the prices of some of its new iPhones when they debut on Sept. 9. Price hikes help offset some of the rising memory costs, but they're not enough to erase the damage.
And Apple's management was clear that its device margins would fall.
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Apple's margins will drop (at least temporarily) under Ternus Apple CFO Kevan Parekh said on the call that the company's margins will be 46.5% for the September quarter, down from 48.1% in the June quarter (excluding tariff benefits). And he specifically cited memory as the reason for the decline, noting that the decrease is "really driven by memory."
This decline comes just as John Ternus is taking over for Cook. So what might Ternus do about the falling margins?
Apple has reportedly already tested DRAM memory chips from the Chinese company CXMT. The idea behind the move is that Apple could use memory from this supplier for Apple devices sold in China. The Financial Times has also reported that Apple is lobbying the U.S. government to allow broader use of CXMT's memory processors outside of China.
But that likely won't be the fix Apple needs. CXMT has already reached its annual memory production capacity, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For now, it looks as if Apple's margins will decline slightly under Ternus, and the company doesn't have a permanent fix -- even with raising device prices.
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology are the world's three largest memory companies -- accounting for about 94% of the DRAM memory market -- and all are all Apple suppliers. And management at SK Hynix and Micron have said the current memory crunch could last through 2027 or even 2030.
All of which means that Apple will likely be battling to regain its margins early in Ternus' tenure -- at least until the company can find the right mix of price increases and memory supply.
Apple v žalobě proti OpenAI tvrdí, že bývalý zaměstnanec Chang Liu použil důvěrné schéma čipu a pomáhal ničit důkazy. Firma žádá předběžné opatření, které by OpenAI dočasně zakázalo pracovat na hardwaru založeném na technologii Apple.
In its lawsuit against OpenAI, Apple filed what it calls “shocking evidence” to bolster its allegations that former employees stole trade secrets for OpenAI’s benefit. These new details emerged after the legal counsel for former Apple employee Chang Liu — who now works at OpenAI — handed over Liu’s old Apple work laptop for investigation earlier this month.
Apple now alleges that Liu used a confidential Apple circuit schematic in his work at OpenAI, as well as a tool that shares a name with an internal Apple engineering application. The company claims that OpenAI was “well-aware” of Liu’s access to Apple data, and that Liu enlisted OpenAI colleague Yu-Ting Peng to help destroy evidence in June when he learned that Apple was investigating him.
“The MacBook represents the very limited information Defendants provided so far (and only after weeks of delay), and shows Apple is not conducting ‘fishing expeditions’ but that its trade secrets are being used and evidence is being destroyed,” the filing reads.
While this new evidence is redacted from public view, past filings from Apple have included text messages from Liu — which he punctuated with “crying laughing” emojis — showing he was aware that he still had access to Apple files.
OpenAI has previously defended Liu by saying that he only accessed Apple files after he stopped working there in order to help former colleagues who asked for his assistance. “Apple now tries to shift the blame to ‘residual access,’ but they also don’t disclose that this is a common issue with Apple which is caused by them failing to properly manage system access when people leave,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post earlier this month.
But Apple claims that Liu had continued access because he “exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug.”
TechCrunch has requested comment from OpenAI on Apple’s newest allegations.
Apple is seeking a preliminary injunction — a court order that would block OpenAI from working on hardware based on Apple’s technology while the case is ongoing — as well as expedited discovery, a fast-tracked process for gathering evidence, since the company alleges that more former employees may also be implicated.
According to Apple’s initial filing, more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.
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Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.
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Akcie Apple v pondělí klesly o 1,8 % a John Ternus přebírá vedení firmy v době, kdy investoři čekají na další růstový motor, hlavně v oblasti AI a Siri.
Apple shares AAPL fell 1.8% on Monday as John Ternus prepares to take over as chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook after more than a decade at the helm.
Ternus will assume control of a company valued at nearly $5 trillion, making sustaining Apple's growth from its current scale one of his biggest challenges.
The incoming CEO inherits a business that has expanded significantly under Cook.
Apple sold about 72 million iPhones in the year Cook became CEO, while Counterpoint Research estimates the company will sell 255 million this year.
Cook's tenure has also been defined by disciplined capital allocation, regular product launches and a substantial expansion of Apple's services business. T
he company has returned more than $1 trillion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
However, investors are now looking for Apple's next major growth driver, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes the technology industry.
One of Ternus's immediate priorities will be Apple's artificial intelligence strategy, particularly the development of Siri.
Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman said Apple needs to identify the next major computing platform after the smartphone. "Apple needs to own this," Newman said in a CNBC interview, adding that he believes this is Ternus's "big job."
Newman argued that Apple currently occupies an important position as the "experience layer" for AI because consumers increasingly use services such as ChatGPT and Claude through Apple devices.
However, he said the company has yet to fully capitalize on that position.
Apple has announced software improvements designed to make Siri capable of completing more tasks.
Early tests of the Siri AI beta by the Wall Street Journal found that it could take longer than competing assistants, although Apple's use of Google technology on the backend has significantly improved its capabilities.
Newman said Apple's bigger challenge goes beyond Siri and concerns whether the iPhone itself will remain the central device for computing.
"Is the handset going to be the device of the future?" Newman asked.
He pointed to efforts by OpenAI and Meta to develop new devices that could change how consumers interact with technology.
Apple's valuation presents another challenge for Ternus.
The stock trades at 33 times next year's earnings, compared with about 20 times for the S&P 500, even though Apple's earnings are growing at roughly half the market's rate.
Craig Moffett of Moffett Nathanson said investors have been willing to pay a premium for Apple because it appears relatively safe amid uncertainty over returns from massive AI investments.
However, he cautioned, "when valuation gets stretched, safety isn't safe anymore."
Apple is also dealing with pressure across its supply chain.
AI companies are competing for memory, storage and logic-chip capacity, potentially increasing Apple's costs and contributing to shortages. The company has passed some higher costs on to consumers.
Apple's continued dependence on China is another issue facing Ternus.
While Cook has largely managed tariff-related risks through political engagement, much of Apple's supply chain remains concentrated in China amid an ongoing US-China trade conflict.
The company's services business is facing pressure as well. A California judge's rulings have reduced Apple's ability to collect fees from some in-app purchases. Appfigures estimates that Apple's US App Store commission revenue fell 6% in the June quarter.
Despite these challenges, Apple enters the transition with several strengths.
The iPhone remains highly popular, with the iPhone 17 Pro benefiting from improvements including a better camera and stronger battery.
The Mac is also seeing renewed demand as Apple-designed chips prove capable of running large language models locally, contributing to product shortages.
A foldable iPhone is also expected to feature in Ternus's first iPhone launch event.
IDC estimates the device could capture 40% of the foldable smartphone market by the end of 2027.
Newman said Ternus also faces a high bar following Cook's tenure. He credited Cook with building Apple's global supply chain and strong unit economics, while noting that Ternus's background in hardware and engineering gives him a different skill set.
"We've seen the headsets kind of flop. Cars didn't work out. Apple's smart home never really became a thing," Newman said, highlighting Apple's difficulty in creating successful new product categories.
Apple's stock has gained more than 2,200% during Cook's tenure, although Newman said it has lagged several Magnificent Seven peers. He also estimated that Apple spent about $877 billion on share buybacks during that period.
For Ternus, the task is therefore not simply to maintain Apple's existing businesses, but to establish where the company's next phase of growth will come from as AI changes the technology landscape.
Apple treated Tim Cook to a farewell tour as he wrapped up his 15-year tenure as CEO on Monday and passed the reins to successor John Ternus – who faces challenges ranging from a troubled AI rollout to a worldwide memory crunch that’s forced it to hike prices.
Cook and Ternus, the 51-year-old head of Apple’s hardware division, have been “inseparable at internal meetings” ahead of the leadership transition, which takes effect Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. The new CEO is expected to move into Cook’s office at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
Ternus will need to hit the ground running in a critical period for Apple. It is set to roll out its latest product releases this fall, including its first foldable iPhone and a long-delayed AI-powered makeover of its Siri voice assistant. Siri AI will be under the microscope when it launches in public beta, with analysts warning that Apple needs a strong showing to reassure Wall Street.
Apple CEO Tim Cook thanks guests and officials during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston on Aug. 13. AP Photo/Annie Mulligan Ternus will also look to maintain demand for core products like MacBooks and iPads despite a wave of price hikes – with some items surging as much as $500 – due to a shortage of computer chips. Apple described the crunch as an “unprecedented challenge.”
Despite the headaches, Cook has been effusive in his praise of Ternus, declaring in April that “he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future.”
Meanwhile, Cook, 65, was fêted at a farewell party on Sunday at Apple’s headquarters to commemorate his lengthy run at the helm. The event featured a performance by Cook’s favorite band, OneRepublic, and drew about 200 attendees, The Information reported.
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of late Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs, was among those who honored Cook at the event. Ternus also spoke at the soiree, as did longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue and former COO Jeff Williams.
The intensely private Cook, who came out as gay in 2014, also delivered remarks at the event and addressed his partner, Mike, who was in attendance, according to the outlet.
While Cook is stepping down as CEO, he will remain at the company as executive chairman. His work will include “engaging with policymakers around the world,” according to Apple.
(L-R) Brendan Hunt, Tanya Reynolds, Jason Sudeikis, John Ternus, Tim Cook, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift and Juno Temple attend the premiere of Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” season four in Los Angeles on July 27. AFP via Getty Images
Tim Cook served as Apple CEO for 15 years. AP Photo/Annie Mulligan “Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO,” Cook wrote on X. “My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I’m excited for the next chapter!”
Cook cultivated close ties with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle during his time as Apple’s boss and was a fixture at White House events under both former President Biden and President Trump. He also oversaw a major expansion with Apple’s business in China, which required managing tenuous relations between Washington, DC, and Beijing.
John Ternus officially becomes Apple CEO on Sept. 1. EPA Cook has reportedly said he plans to spend more time at his vacation home in Palm Springs, Calif., and “take up more outdoor activities” – even as he remains heavily involved at the company, according to the outlet.
The transition marks the end of an era for Apple, which has seen its market cap surge from about $350 billion in 2011 to more than $4.5 trillion today.
Apple representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from his role at the helm of one of the world's largest tech companies after a 15-year tenure that saw Apple become the first publicly traded U.S. company with a $1 trillion market cap and other notable milestones.
He announced in April that he would step down as Apple CEO at the end of August, and while he is leaving that role, he will remain with the company as the executive chairman. John Ternus, who most recently served as Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will be Cook's successor.
Cook became CEO in August 2011 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigned six weeks before his death. Jobs first met Cook in 1998 and convinced him to join Apple that year, starting his career at the tech giant as a senior vice president for worldwide operations.
"As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I am stepping away from a role that I have loved deeply," Cook said in a memo emailed to all employees on his final day. "I will miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision."
APPLE POSTS RECORD JUNE QUARTER AS IPHONE SALES SURGE; COOK WEIGHS IN ON AI, CHINA
Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from the role on Monday, Aug. 31, after leading the company to historic milestones during his tenure at the helm. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that's the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up," Cook said.
"We have made it possible to leave our 'dent in the universe,' as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world," he added.
Cook's tenure at Apple saw the tech giant move to compete in new product and service categories, building a broader consumer tech ecosystem off of the MacBook, iPhone and iPad.
APPLE CEO TIM COOK TO STEP DOWN IN MAJOR LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP, SUCCESSOR NAMED
Tim Cook served 15 years as Apple CEO and will remain as the company's executive chairman. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
In 2014, Cook and the company announced the Apple Watch as the company entered the wearable health tech market, while it also launched Apply Pay that year to build on its base of consumer device users to compete in mobile payments.
The next year, Apple Music marked the company's pivot from iTunes to a subscription-based model for consumers who stream their music, while 2016 saw the debut of Apple's AirPods which supercharged the growth of the company's wearables division. The company also launched Apple TV+ and Apple Card in 2019 as it continued to broaden its service offerings.
Apple also hit a number of major corporate milestones under Cook's leadership. It became the first U.S.-based publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in market capitalization in 2018.
Apple later reached the $2 trillion milestone in 2020, surpassed the $3 trillion market for the first time in 2022 during intraday trading, then crossed $4 trillion in October 2025. It briefly overtook Nvidia for largest market cap in July 2026.
WHO IS JOHN TERNUS, SET TO SUCCEED TIM COOK AS APPLE'S CEO?
Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAPL APPLE INC. 319.70 +5.12 +1.63% Over the years, Apple has vied with ExxonMobil, Nvidia and Microsoft for the title of most valuable publicly traded U.S. company, with the top spot regularly changing hands among those companies. Within that period, Apple ranked first for much of the 2013 to 2018 period.
Apple currently has a market cap of roughly $4.6 trillion, ranking second behind Nvidia's $5.25 trillion market cap while leading Microsoft's $3.79 trillion valuation.
Apple is planning to hold the first major event under new CEO John Ternus next week on Sept. 9, when it will unveil its newest iPhone and could potentially reveal the long-awaited foldable iPhone.
Cook said in his letter that he takes "enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John," adding that few people "understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership."
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A report by Reuters noted that analysts expect Apple to launch a foldable iPhone, entering a new segment of the smartphone market to compete with Samsung in the growing device segment.
Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,383 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.0% of Generate Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $121,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Apple Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $319.70 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $312.24 and a 200 day moving average of $288.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $225.95 and a 12 month high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year. Apple Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 12.39%.
Key Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Apple’s September 9 event will be the first major product launch under incoming CEO John Ternus. Expectations for the iPhone 18 lineup, camera improvements and a possible foldable iPhone are supporting sentiment. IDC reportedly expects more than 10 million foldable iPhone shipments in the first year, although that forecast remains speculative. Apple stock rises ahead of September event Positive Sentiment: Apple is raising U.S. prices for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions, in some cases by up to 20%. The increases could lift services revenue and margins, though investors will monitor customer retention and potential subscription churn. Apple raises subscription prices Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to add Apple Pay support across its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026. Wider acceptance could increase Apple Pay usage and strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem. Walmart to add Apple Pay support Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support: Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Neutral Sentiment: The CEO transition creates both opportunity and execution risk. Ternus’s product-design background is viewed favorably, but he will face an immediate test with the iPhone launch shortly after taking over from Tim Cook. Apple’s first iPhone launch under John Ternus Negative Sentiment: Apple is eliminating roughly 147–200 jobs across Siri, machine-learning and Vision Pro teams while redirecting resources toward AI. The restructuring may improve focus, but it also highlights concerns about Siri’s delays and Apple’s position in generative AI. Apple layoffs in Siri and Vision Pro teams Negative Sentiment: High expectations and a premium valuation leave less room for disappointing foldable-iPhone demand, AI progress or margins. Rising memory-chip costs could also pressure profitability. Negative Sentiment: Apple SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares worth approximately $447,000. The sale is small relative to Apple’s size and may be routine, but it provides a modest negative sentiment signal. SEC Form 4 filing Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 13th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.53.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Insiders Place Their Bets In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total transaction of $447,457.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Apple Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
See Also Five stocks we like better than Apple Strike a Balance Between Growth and Stability With These 3 Names Ready to Rally Rubrik’s AI Security Bet Could Power the Next Leg Higher Apple’s Foldable iPhone Could Be a Catalyst, But Not a Cure-All Snowflake Is Up Nearly 50% in 2026—What Are Short Sellers Betting Against?
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Florida Trust Wealth Management Co increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 665,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,941 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.8% of Florida Trust Wealth Management Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $192,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. grew its position in Apple by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 108.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,482,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.53.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple Insiders Place Their Bets In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Performance Shares of AAPL stock opened at $319.70 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $225.95 and a one year high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 12.39%.
Apple News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Apple’s September 9 event will be the first major product launch under incoming CEO John Ternus. Expectations for the iPhone 18 lineup, camera improvements and a possible foldable iPhone are supporting sentiment. IDC reportedly expects more than 10 million foldable iPhone shipments in the first year, although that forecast remains speculative. Apple stock rises ahead of September event Positive Sentiment: Apple is raising U.S. prices for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions, in some cases by up to 20%. The increases could lift services revenue and margins, though investors will monitor customer retention and potential subscription churn. Apple raises subscription prices Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to add Apple Pay support across its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026. Wider acceptance could increase Apple Pay usage and strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem. Walmart to add Apple Pay support Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support: Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Neutral Sentiment: The CEO transition creates both opportunity and execution risk. Ternus’s product-design background is viewed favorably, but he will face an immediate test with the iPhone launch shortly after taking over from Tim Cook. Apple’s first iPhone launch under John Ternus Negative Sentiment: Apple is eliminating roughly 147–200 jobs across Siri, machine-learning and Vision Pro teams while redirecting resources toward AI. The restructuring may improve focus, but it also highlights concerns about Siri’s delays and Apple’s position in generative AI. Apple layoffs in Siri and Vision Pro teams Negative Sentiment: High expectations and a premium valuation leave less room for disappointing foldable-iPhone demand, AI progress or margins. Rising memory-chip costs could also pressure profitability. Negative Sentiment: Apple SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares worth approximately $447,000. The sale is small relative to Apple’s size and may be routine, but it provides a modest negative sentiment signal. SEC Form 4 filing About Apple (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple Strike a Balance Between Growth and Stability With These 3 Names Ready to Rally Rubrik’s AI Security Bet Could Power the Next Leg Higher Apple’s Foldable iPhone Could Be a Catalyst, But Not a Cure-All Snowflake Is Up Nearly 50% in 2026—What Are Short Sellers Betting Against?
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Capstone Wealth Management Group ve druhém čtvrtletí nově nakoupila 36 976 akcií společnosti Apple za zhruba 10,7 milionu USD. Apple tvoří 6,4 % jejího portfolia a je čtvrtou největší pozicí.
Capstone Wealth Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 36,976 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $10,699,000. Apple comprises 6.4% of Capstone Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Evansbrook LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $319.70 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $225.95 and a 12-month high of $344.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $312.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.52.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year. Apple Dividend Announcement The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.
Apple News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Apple’s September 9 event will be the first major product launch under incoming CEO John Ternus. Expectations for the iPhone 18 lineup, camera improvements and a possible foldable iPhone are supporting sentiment. IDC reportedly expects more than 10 million foldable iPhone shipments in the first year, although that forecast remains speculative. Apple stock rises ahead of September event Positive Sentiment: Apple is raising U.S. prices for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions, in some cases by up to 20%. The increases could lift services revenue and margins, though investors will monitor customer retention and potential subscription churn. Apple raises subscription prices Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to add Apple Pay support across its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026. Wider acceptance could increase Apple Pay usage and strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem. Walmart to add Apple Pay support Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support: Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Neutral Sentiment: The CEO transition creates both opportunity and execution risk. Ternus’s product-design background is viewed favorably, but he will face an immediate test with the iPhone launch shortly after taking over from Tim Cook. Apple’s first iPhone launch under John Ternus Negative Sentiment: Apple is eliminating roughly 147–200 jobs across Siri, machine-learning and Vision Pro teams while redirecting resources toward AI. The restructuring may improve focus, but it also highlights concerns about Siri’s delays and Apple’s position in generative AI. Apple layoffs in Siri and Vision Pro teams Negative Sentiment: High expectations and a premium valuation leave less room for disappointing foldable-iPhone demand, AI progress or margins. Rising memory-chip costs could also pressure profitability. Negative Sentiment: Apple SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares worth approximately $447,000. The sale is small relative to Apple’s size and may be routine, but it provides a modest negative sentiment signal. SEC Form 4 filing Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $285.56 to $263.66 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.53.
Get Our Latest Report on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Company Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Apple Strike a Balance Between Growth and Stability With These 3 Names Ready to Rally Rubrik’s AI Security Bet Could Power the Next Leg Higher Apple’s Foldable iPhone Could Be a Catalyst, But Not a Cure-All Snowflake Is Up Nearly 50% in 2026—What Are Short Sellers Betting Against?
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Apple po devátých výsledcích nad odhady v řadě a schválení odkupu akcií za 100 miliard USD zůstává podle článku pro stávající akcionáře na úrovni 319,70 USD spíše na doporučení Hold. Tržby ve 3. čtvrtletí fiskálního roku 2026 vzrostly na 109,4 miliardy USD, meziročně o 16 %.
Apple has run nearly 38% in a year, printed a ninth straight earnings beat, and authorized a massive buyback, yet something in the numbers is making analysts pause before calling it a buy.
At $319.70, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) is a Hold for existing shareholders. The stock has run hard off its early-year base, and the setup at this level rewards patience over conviction in either direction.
Apple sells iPhones, Macs, iPads, Wearables, and Services to installed base of more than 2.5 billion active devices. It sits at the center of premium consumer electronics with a $4.67 trillion market cap, competing against Samsung in hardware and against major cloud and platform giants for digital services spending.
The move to $320 followed three consecutive double-digit revenue growth quarters, an aggressive $100 billion buyback authorization, and the iPhone 17 super-cycle launch. The question now is how much of that good news is already priced in.
Why Bulls See Room to Run Q3 FY2026 delivered revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, with iPhone revenue of $54.3 billion, up 22% and Services at a record $30.7 billion, up 12%. That marks a ninth consecutive EPS beat.
Management expects September quarter revenue growth of 9% to 11%, driven by an iPhone lineup Tim Cook called “the most powerful and most popular iPhone lineup we’ve ever had.” Siri AI is shipping, paid subscriptions have surpassed $1.5 billion, and Apple ended the quarter with $147 billion in cash and marketable securities. The consensus analyst target sits at $324.45, and 28 of 46 covering analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy.
Why Bears Say the Easy Money Is Gone Valuation is the problem. Apple trades at a trailing P/E of 36 and a forward P/E of 33, well above its historical range, with a PEG of 2.5. The $0.11 tariff refund benefit flattered Q3 EPS, and management flagged September quarter supply constraints will increase significantly across iPhone, Mac, and iPad.
Memory pricing is another overhang. Cook described it as a “100-year flood”, forcing Apple to “reluctantly” raise prices. September gross margin guidance of 47% to 48% steps down from the 50.1% reported in the quarter. Insider disposals by the general counsel occurred at prices between $307 and $311.
Why Waiting Is the Sober Read Both bull and bear cases are defensible, signaling a hold. Fundamentals are excellent, but the stock has already absorbed a big rerating. Apple traded at $259.45 in late January and $270.84 in late April before this run.
Reddit sentiment reads neutral at 42, and the composite prediction score sits at 52 with medium confidence. Holders should watch three things: Siri AI monetization traction, Greater China trajectory ($18.8 billion in Q3 after $25.5 billion in Q1), and whether memory costs compress margins beyond the September guide.
How the Numbers Frame the Setup Shares trade at $319.70 against an average analyst target of $324.45, implying roughly 1.5% upside to consensus. That is a thin cushion. The ratings breakdown across 46 covering analysts is 6 Strong Buy, 22 Buy, 14 Hold, 2 Sell, and 2 Strong Sell.
AAPL is up 17.92% year to date and 37.98% over the past year, ahead of the S&P 500’s 12.82% year to date and 18.56% one-year gains. Over the past month, Apple has slipped 5.38% while the index has added 5.47%, a rare stretch of relative underperformance after a heavy rerating.
Hold Verdict at $320 At $319.70, Apple is a Hold.
The core business is compounding, cash return is enormous, and the balance sheet offers genuine defensive equity exposure. Selling here looks premature. But paying 33x forward earnings for mid-teens revenue growth, with a September quarter that will lap tariff refunds, absorb memory inflation, and face heavier supply constraints, does not offer the margin of safety a new buyer wants.
A Buy upgrade would require evidence that Siri AI is driving iCloud+ tier migration, that Greater China is stabilizing, and that memory pass-through is holding margins near guidance. A Sell downgrade would require an iPhone 17 demand air pocket, sustained China weakness, or margin slippage below the September range.
$25.8 billion of share repurchases in a single quarter plus the dividend backstops the floor while the market waits for cleaner comps to judge whether the iPhone super-cycle is durable or a pull-forward.
For existing shareholders with diversified portfolios, holding Apple at $320 captures the defensive quality of a fortress balance sheet without chasing a stock that has already priced in most of the good news.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
OpenAI podle The Information v posledních měsících koupila desítky tisíc Maců mini a Maců Studio od Apple pro učení posilováním a trénink agentů. Apple tak neplánovaně těží z poptávky po AI infrastruktuře.
OpenAI has been quietly buying Apple hardware by the tens of thousands, and it has nothing to do with iPhones or consumer gadgets. The reason reveals a surprising gap in how AI labs are building the infrastructure behind their most…
AI infrastructure is expanding beyond the giant GPU clusters that have defined the boom. The next phase of artificial intelligence is increasingly about agents that can use computers, write and test code, navigate software, manage files, and complete tasks with limited human intervention. That changes the hardware equation. Training these agents can require thousands of independent machines rather than one enormous interconnected supercomputer. Suddenly, consumer desktops can look a lot more like infrastructure.
That shift has created an unexpected beneficiary: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction). According to The Information, OpenAI has reportedly purchased tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios in recent months for reinforcement learning and training computer-use agents. Apple did not build its Macs to become AI infrastructure, but its silicon may have found an unexpectedly good role.
AI Agents Need A Different Kind Of Compute Training a frontier model such as GPT requires enormous clusters of interconnected GPUs, where Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) remains the dominant supplier. Agentic AI, however, has a different requirement. An agent can be placed inside a virtual or physical desktop, told to complete a task, scored on the result, and then trained to do better. Running thousands of those sessions simultaneously favors breadth over raw horsepower.
That’s where Apple silicon’s unified-memory architecture becomes useful. A Mac can keep the CPU, GPU, and memory working from the same pool rather than relying on a discrete graphics card and separate system memory.
OpenAI isn’t alone. Anthropic has reportedly rented Apple silicon capacity through Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) AWS for similar workloads. The message for investors is bigger than a few bulk orders: AI labs are looking for compute wherever the economics make sense.
AI labs are quietly hoarding Mac silicon to power the next phase of autonomous agents, sparking an accidental $10 billion revenue surge for Apple. Apple’s Accidental AI Sales Boost The timing is particularly interesting because Apple’s Mac business is already growing rapidly.
Apple generated roughly $10.4 billion in Mac revenue in its fiscal third quarter, an increase of about 29% from the prior year. Apple doesn’t disclose how much of that came from Mac minis and Studios, so it would be premature to attribute the growth directly to AI labs. But shortages of higher-memory configurations and reports of large institutional purchases suggest the AI market is adding another source of demand.
Apple hasn’t commented on the report, but there is apparently enough demand from AI labs that it adjusted its traditional fall Mac release cycle to accommodate it. Just last week, Apple refreshed the Mac mini with its M6 chip and the Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra processors. The company is also positioning the machines more explicitly for AI, including local large language model workloads and clustered systems connected through Thunderbolt 5.
That’s an important strategic development. Apple doesn’t need to build a $100 billion AI data center to participate in AI infrastructure spending. It can just sell the silicon.
The Opportunity Comes With A Catch Granted, this isn’t a new Nvidia. Apple’s opportunity exists because agentic workloads can be divided across thousands of relatively independent machines. That makes Macs useful complements to GPU clusters, not substitutes for them. Nvidia’s economics remain far more attractive for massive model pretraining and other workloads that demand concentrated GPU horsepower.
There is also a practical problem. Apple apparently wasn’t prepared for enterprise customers to buy Macs by the thousands and treat them as compute nodes. Reports indicate the company lacks a dedicated enterprise AI organization and has historically focused its Mac business on consumers and creative professionals.
Memory shortages make that problem harder. AI data centers are already consuming enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory and other components, putting pressure on the broader supply chain.
Ironically, the shortage that helped create this opportunity could limit it.
Key Takeaway In short, investors shouldn’t mistake OpenAI’s reported Mac purchases for a threat to Nvidia’s data-center dominance. The more interesting takeaway is that Apple has stumbled into a new AI market without having to reinvent the Mac.
Mac revenue is already growing at roughly 29% annually, and tens of thousands of additional machines potentially going to AI labs would add another demand stream. More importantly, Apple silicon is proving useful for a workload that didn’t exist at meaningful scale when Apple designed today’s Mac strategy.
That doesn’t make Apple an AI infrastructure pure play; rather, it makes the Mac more valuable.
For shareholders, that’s the real opportunity: Apple may not have planned to build an AI empire, but its silicon is increasingly becoming part of the infrastructure needed to run one.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple zdražil Apple TV+ z 12,99 USD na 14,99 USD měsíčně a roční tarif na 119 USD. Zdražil i Apple One, individuální plán nyní stojí 21,95 USD měsíčně.
Apple raised its streaming price for Apple TV Friday from $12.99 to $14.99 per month or $119 a year when it used to cost $99.
Apple also raised the price of its Apple One service, which combines Apple TV and other services such as iCloud storage, Apple Music and Apple Arcade.
Apple One is now $21.95 for an individual plan, up from $19.95.
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The cast of Apple TV's "Ted Lasso" ( Cindy Ord/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The tech giant last raised its streaming prices a year ago from $9.99 to $12.99.
Apple TV isn’t the only streaming service to go up. Peacock, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, Paramount+, Max and YouTube Premium have all raised their prices in some form in the last few years with some putting hikes on ad-free streaming.
Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAPL APPLE INC. 319.70 +5.12 +1.63% Apple TV cost just $4.99 per month when it launched in 2019.
The streaming service includes favorites like "Ted Lasso," "Your Friends and Neighbors," "The Morning Show," "Severance," "Silo," "Mark Matter," plus it has the exclusive rights to the Charlie Brown specials and Formula 1 racing.
Jennifer Aniston promoting "The Morning Show" in June (Monica Schipper/WireImage / Getty Images)
FIRST PREVIEW DROPS FOR 'BROTHERS' AS 'TRUE DETECTIVE' STARS REUNITE ON APPLE TV THIS SEPTEMBER
The price for Apple Music also went up in July from $10.99 to $11.99 per month.
Apple reported a record June quarter with $109.4 billion in revenue, which beat analysts' estimates of $108.65 billion in the company's final earnings report before CEO Tim Cook steps down.
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Apple iPhone 17 Pros are displayed during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters in September 2025 in Cupertino, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
A 22% jump in iPhone sales, combined with record spring quarter Mac revenue, helped drive the results.
Tariff refunds also boosted Apple's bottom line, adding roughly 5% to profit during the period.
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FOX Business' Susan Li contributed to this report.
CKW Financial Group ve 2. čtvrtletí zvýšila svůj podíl v Apple o 29,8 % a nakoupila dalších 4 578 akcií. Po nákupu držela 19 915 akcií v hodnotě 5 863 000 USD.
CKW Financial Group boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 29.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,915 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares during the period. Apple comprises 0.6% of CKW Financial Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. CKW Financial Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evansbrook LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple Price Performance NASDAQ AAPL opened at $319.70 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $312.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.43. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.95 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year. Apple Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.53.
View Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,576,357.55. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
More Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Apple’s September 9 event will be the first major product launch under incoming CEO John Ternus. Expectations for the iPhone 18 lineup, camera improvements and a possible foldable iPhone are supporting sentiment. IDC reportedly expects more than 10 million foldable iPhone shipments in the first year, although that forecast remains speculative. Apple stock rises ahead of September event Positive Sentiment: Apple is raising U.S. prices for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions, in some cases by up to 20%. The increases could lift services revenue and margins, though investors will monitor customer retention and potential subscription churn. Apple raises subscription prices Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to add Apple Pay support across its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026. Wider acceptance could increase Apple Pay usage and strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem. Walmart to add Apple Pay support Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support: Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Neutral Sentiment: The CEO transition creates both opportunity and execution risk. Ternus’s product-design background is viewed favorably, but he will face an immediate test with the iPhone launch shortly after taking over from Tim Cook. Apple’s first iPhone launch under John Ternus Negative Sentiment: Apple is eliminating roughly 147–200 jobs across Siri, machine-learning and Vision Pro teams while redirecting resources toward AI. The restructuring may improve focus, but it also highlights concerns about Siri’s delays and Apple’s position in generative AI. Apple layoffs in Siri and Vision Pro teams Negative Sentiment: High expectations and a premium valuation leave less room for disappointing foldable-iPhone demand, AI progress or margins. Rising memory-chip costs could also pressure profitability. Negative Sentiment: Apple SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares worth approximately $447,000. The sale is small relative to Apple’s size and may be routine, but it provides a modest negative sentiment signal. SEC Form 4 filing About Apple (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
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Apple vyčlenil 60 miliard USD na výrobu v Texasu jako součást širšího amerického programu za 600 miliard USD. Cílem je omezit riziko cel a chránit marže i zisky.
Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple (AAPL +1.63%) has delivered an impressive 2,000%-plus return since 2011. Now, as Cook prepares to hand the reins to Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, he's doubling down on a stronger domestic supply chain -- with $60 billion earmarked for Texas.
The goal appears straightforward: reduce the risk of future tariff disruptions and protect Apple's margins and earnings path, freeing Ternus, who takes the top job on Sept. 1, to focus on what he does best: building world-class products and services.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. Image source: Apple.
The Texas investment is part of a broader $600 billion, four-year U.S. manufacturing commitment Apple announced last year. Apple still won't be making iPhones in the U.S., but it will manufacture the Mac mini at a new facility in Houston. The new facility will also build and ship Apple's advanced AI servers.
Separately, Apple recently announced a long-term agreement with Broadcom to design and produce custom silicon components and advanced wireless technologies -- a deal expected to exceed $30 billion.
On the company's fiscal Q3 earnings call, Cook said, "This marks our largest-ever American manufacturing program commitment. It's also an important step forward in our work to build an end-to-end silicon supply chain here in the U.S."
Even if making iPhones domestically remains out of reach without meaningfully higher prices, shifting more of the supply chain to U.S. sources should help Apple better manage future changes in tariff and trade policy.
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What the domestic investment means for earnings Apple's latest quarterly report showed how much tariff policies can swing results. Gross margin was 50.1%, with 2 percentage points coming from tariff refunds. Diluted earnings per share grew 29% year over year to $2.02, including $0.11 from refunds. Apple said it is reinvesting those tariff refunds into the U.S. supply chain.
The refunds are for tariffs already paid before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in February 2026 that certain tariffs were unlawful. But that doesn't eliminate the risk of other tariffs being imposed under different statutes, prompting Apple to continue investing in the U.S.
The near-term pressure point is memory costs. Management described today's surge in memory pricing as a "100-year flood." For fiscal Q4 ending in September, Apple expects gross margin between 47% and 48%, including a one-point benefit from tariff refunds.
Overall, Cook will hand off to Ternus a more resilient U.S. supply chain. Analysts still expect Apple to grow earnings at a low double-digit rate over the long term. While the memory price surge could be a near-term headwind, Apple's efforts to bolster its U.S. supply chain essentially serve as tariff insurance over the long term, helping keep earnings and margins more stable in the event of future policy changes.
Facet Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,666 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,275 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.6% of Facet Wealth Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Facet Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $43,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,266,468,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.53.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple Apple Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $319.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $312.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $225.95 and a one year high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.39%.
Insider Activity In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total transaction of $447,457.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Key Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Apple’s September 9 event will be the first major product launch under incoming CEO John Ternus. Expectations for the iPhone 18 lineup, camera improvements and a possible foldable iPhone are supporting sentiment. IDC reportedly expects more than 10 million foldable iPhone shipments in the first year, although that forecast remains speculative. Apple stock rises ahead of September event Positive Sentiment: Apple is raising U.S. prices for Apple TV and Apple One subscriptions, in some cases by up to 20%. The increases could lift services revenue and margins, though investors will monitor customer retention and potential subscription churn. Apple raises subscription prices Positive Sentiment: Walmart plans to add Apple Pay support across its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2026. Wider acceptance could increase Apple Pay usage and strengthen Apple’s payments ecosystem. Walmart to add Apple Pay support Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support: Apple reported quarterly EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $109.42 billion. Neutral Sentiment: The CEO transition creates both opportunity and execution risk. Ternus’s product-design background is viewed favorably, but he will face an immediate test with the iPhone launch shortly after taking over from Tim Cook. Apple’s first iPhone launch under John Ternus Negative Sentiment: Apple is eliminating roughly 147–200 jobs across Siri, machine-learning and Vision Pro teams while redirecting resources toward AI. The restructuring may improve focus, but it also highlights concerns about Siri’s delays and Apple’s position in generative AI. Apple layoffs in Siri and Vision Pro teams Negative Sentiment: High expectations and a premium valuation leave less room for disappointing foldable-iPhone demand, AI progress or margins. Rising memory-chip costs could also pressure profitability. Negative Sentiment: Apple SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares worth approximately $447,000. The sale is small relative to Apple’s size and may be routine, but it provides a modest negative sentiment signal. SEC Form 4 filing About Apple (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
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Od nástupu Tima Cooka do čela Apple v roce 2011 by investice 1 000 USD měla dnes hodnotu asi 28 418 USD. Akcie vzrostly z 11,25 USD po zohlednění splitů na 319,70 USD.
As Tim Cook prepares to step down as Apple’s chief executive officer on September 1, ending a 15-year tenure, investors who backed Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) when he took over have been richly rewarded.
Since Cook assumed the CEO role on August 24, 2011, Apple shares have risen from a split-adjusted closing price of $11.25 to $319.70 as of the last trading session.
AAPL all-time stock price chart. Source: Finbold As a result, a $1,000 investment made on that day would now be worth approximately $28,418, representing a gain of more than 2,740%.
The return reflects Apple’s transformation under Cook from a company valued at roughly $350 billion into one with a market capitalization of about $4.67 trillion.
Apple’s explosive growth Apple’s growth was driven by a sharp increase in revenue, which expanded from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to $416 billion in fiscal 2025. Trailing 12-month sales have also approached $467 billion.
The iPhone remains Apple’s largest revenue driver, generating more than $200 billion annually and accounting for roughly half of total sales. However, the services segment has become one of the company’s key growth engines.
Services revenue, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay, now exceeds $100 billion annually. The segment carries higher margins than hardware products, helping lift Apple’s overall gross margin into the high-40% range.
Meanwhile, products such as the Apple Watch and AirPods have strengthened Apple’s ecosystem and helped grow its active device base to more than 2.5 billion.
Another major contributor to Apple’s investment growth has been its aggressive capital return strategy.
Over the years, the technology giant has spent hundreds of billions of dollars repurchasing shares, reducing shares outstanding to about 14.6 billion.
The share count has fallen by roughly 40% from peak levels, boosting earnings per share and increasing the value of remaining shares.
Although Apple pays a dividend, the yield remains modest at around 0.33% to 0.34%, with a payout ratio near 12%. Most shareholder returns have instead come from stock appreciation and share buybacks.
Cook’s background in operations and supply-chain management also helped Apple navigate challenges including the pandemic, inflation, and global trade disruptions.
The company expanded manufacturing capacity, diversified parts of its production footprint beyond China, and maintained strong profitability throughout the period.
Apple leadership transition Apple announced in April that Cook will become executive chairman, with longtime hardware chief John Ternus set to take over as CEO on September 1.
Ternus inherits a company valued at about $4.67 trillion but faces growing pressure to strengthen Apple’s position in artificial intelligence.
While Cook’s tenure was defined by operational discipline, services growth, and shareholder returns, investors expect Ternus to place greater emphasis on product innovation and AI.
Apple’s September 9 product event will be the first major launch under Ternus’ leadership, with investors watching for updates on the company’s AI strategy and future growth plans.
IDC projects a record 16.7% drop in global smartphone shipments to just over 1 billion units in 2026, though total market value will still grow 6.3% to $613 billion as average selling prices surge 27.6% to $581.
While Android shipments contract 24.3%, market leaders Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Samsung, and Huawei are best positioned to navigate the downturn—with Apple’s iOS market share expected to gain nearly four percentage points, reaching a record 23.6%.
The memory shortage is driving much of the disruption. NAND and DRAM costs have risen more than 300% year over year, and IDC expects memory prices to remain elevated until at least 2028.
IDC Vice President Francisco Jeronimo said vendors are increasingly passing those higher costs on to consumers as they lose the ability to absorb them.
Apple Gains Share As Android Retreats From Entry-Level PhonesIDC expects Android shipments to decline as manufacturers cut lower-priced devices that have become harder to sell profitably.
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Apple faces far less volume pressure. IDC expects iOS shipments to fall only 1.3%, helping its market share rise to a record 23.6%.
Huawei is also gaining ground. IDC expects HarmonyOS shipments to nearly triple to 51 million units as Huawei maintains disciplined pricing and captures share in China.
Foldables Give Apple Another Growth DriverIDC expects foldable smartphone shipments to rise 12.6% in 2026 to 22.9 million units and accelerate another 18% in 2027.
Senior Research Director Nabila Popal said Apple’s entry has fundamentally changed the category’s outlook.
IDC forecasts Apple will ship more than 17 million foldable iPhones in 2027 and capture roughly 40% of global foldable shipments.
IDC also expects Apple’s foldable devices to generate more than $45.7 billion in value and account for over half of the category’s total market value.
Smaller Android vendors concentrated in entry-level devices face the greatest pressure as the market shifts toward fewer units, higher prices and greater concentration among leading brands.
AAPL Price Action: Apple shares were up 0.23% at $315.29 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Apple v fiskálním 3. čtvrtletí vyniká jako vítěz v oblasti AI s nejnižšími výdaji na AI mezi Magnificent 7. Ve fiskálním 3. čtvrtletí tržby vzrostly o 16,36 % na 109,4 miliardy USD a EPS 2,02 překonal odhady.
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Apple has quietly done something none of its Magnificent 7 peers have managed in 2026. It has become the AI winner that spends the least on AI. While Alphabet plans $175 billion to $185 billion in 2026 capex and Microsoft just posted $115.95 billion in full-year capital spending, Apple is riding a 22% iPhone cycle, a reimagined Siri, and a memory-cost story into fresh highs.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) is $361.66 over the next 12 months, implying 16.91% upside from $309.35. Our confidence is high.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary Metric Value Current Price $309.35 24/7 Wall St. Price Target $361.66 Upside 16.91% Recommendation BUY Confidence Level 90% How the Capex-Light Narrative Took Over Apple stock has returned 38.06% over the last year and 14.1% year to date, though shares have cooled 4.99% in the last month after tagging a 52-week high of $344.27.
The July 30 fiscal Q3 print was the catalyst. Revenue of $109.4 billion grew 16.36%, EPS of $2.02 beat estimates by 6.8%, and iPhone revenue jumped 22% to $54.3 billion. That marked Apple’s ninth consecutive EPS beat. A viral Reddit post captured the shift, noting “Apple’s capex is 1.8% of revenue, Alphabet’s is 37.5%”. Investors are re-rating Apple as the AI beneficiary without the balance-sheet risk.
Why Bulls See a Breakout to $377 Tim Cook called Siri AI “a completely reimagined version of Siri that is profoundly capable, deeply personal, and integrated seamlessly across our platforms.” He added, “I have never been more optimistic.”
The install base topped 2.5 billion devices, Services hit a record $30.7 billion, and Apple committed $600 billion to U.S. investment plus a $30 billion Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) silicon deal. Prediction-market traders now price 85% odds on a foldable iPhone before 2027. Our bull-case scenario points to $377.13, roughly 22% upside.
What Could Go Wrong Memory costs are the sharpest risk. Cook described DRAM pricing as “a 100-year flood on the memory pricing with exponential increases”.
September-quarter gross margin guidance of 47% to 48% is well below Q3’s 50.1%, and Q3 included a one-time tariff-refund tailwind worth roughly $0.11 of EPS. Insider activity has skewed net selling. That said, bulls would counter that supply constraints reflect “an incredibly strong iPhone and Mac product cycle“, not weakness. Our bear-case scenario lands at $313.60.
How Apple Compares to Microsoft and Alphabet Apple trades at a P/E of 40, well above Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) at 27. Microsoft posted 17.8% revenue growth with Azure at 43%, but its $115.95 billion capex bill is the exact overhang Apple avoids.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) grew Q2 revenue 24.2% with Google Cloud up 82%, yet posted negative free cash flow of $5.85 billion because of AI capex.
All of that spending has to land somewhere, which is the whole reason we mapped the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind the buildout in a free AI infrastructure report. Apple’s ROE of 171.42% and free-cash-flow yield of 2.19% justify the premium. The peer group makes our 24/7 Wall St. price target look reasonable.
Apple Price Prediction 2026-2030 My verdict is buy at a 24/7 Wall St. price target of $361.66 with 90% confidence. The key factor is capital efficiency in an AI cycle where peers are drowning in capex.
Conviction strengthens if Siri AI adoption translates into a measurable Services acceleration by the December quarter. I would stay on the sidelines if September gross margin lands below the 47% low end of guidance.
Year 24/7 Wall St. Price Target 2026 $325 2027 $362 2028 $405 2029 $455 2030 $508 These projections assume Apple monetizes Siri AI through iCloud+ and defends Services growth. Significant upside could come from a foldable iPhone launch or a China rebound. Downside could stem from a prolonged DRAM shortage or regulatory action on the App Store.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Paměťové tituly v pondělí prudce klesly po zprávě, že USA mohou dovolit Applu odebírat paměťové čipy od čínských dodavatelů. Micron, SanDisk a Western Digital odepsaly 7 %, 9 % a 7 %.
Memory stocks are sliding Monday morning after weekend reports that Washington may permit Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) to source memory chips from Chinese suppliers. The policy shift would land squarely on the U.S. and Korean players that dominate the group.
SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) stock is down 9% to $1,458.29, leading the group lower. Meanwhile, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) stock is down 7% to $897.86 in early Monday trading, the cleanest read-through to any shift in Apple’s DRAM sourcing.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) stock is down 7% to $429.49 on similar sector-wide pressure, and SK Hynix (NASDAQ:SKHY) stock is down 5% to $154.48 as the selling spans geographies. The Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) is down 7% to $53.62, matching the individual names almost exactly and signaling that traders aren’t sorting between NAND and DRAM exposure.
The uniformity is the tell. This looks like a policy-headline shock landing on a sector that had already run enormously, with SanDisk stock up 572% year to date through Friday’s close and Micron Technology stock up 239% YTD through Friday’s close. Gains like that invite exactly this kind of gap risk (we wrote a free handbook on riding a mania and planning the exit here: The Bubble Survivor’s Handbook).
Weekend Report on Chinese Memory Sourcing Reports circulating over the weekend said the Trump administration may permit Apple to source DRAM from China’s CXMT and NAND flash memory from YMTC. The move is described as a possible diplomatic gesture ahead of President Xi Jinping’s planned U.S. visit, expected on or around September 24. Apple has said it is “evaluating all options” on memory supply and that Chinese sourcing “could help us on the supply side and perhaps the pricing side.”
The stakes concentrate at Micron. As the dominant U.S. supplier of the high-density lpDDR5x DRAM Apple uses in iPhones and Macs, Micron Technology shares carry the most direct read-through to any shift in Apple’s memory sourcing decision.
Analyst Calls It an Overreaction KC Rajkumar of Lynx Equity Research called Monday’s selloff “an overreaction” in a note, arguing supply constraints and qualification gaps make the China memory threat far smaller than the headlines imply. His channel checks found CXMT qualified for only one low-volume Mac product and not qualified for iPhones at all, with poor yield on the high-density lpDDR5x DRAM Apple requires.
Rajkumar wrote that “CXMT supply is unlikely to dent the shortage Apple is facing in DRAM, nor could CXMT supply improve Apple’s negotiation position at traditional suppliers such as MU.” On YMTC, he found Apple has not qualified its NAND for any product, and that YMTC has allocated its latest-generation NAND to domestic customers including Android smartphones, electric vehicles and Lenovo notebooks.
Both CXMT and YMTC remain on the Pentagon’s Section 1260H list of companies with alleged ties to China’s military-industrial base, which could complicate any procurement arrangement. On August 17, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Wall Street Journal that “it’s not great American companies using Chinese memory,” and Micron and SanDisk shares rose sharply that session.
Position Sizing Into Xi Visit Headlines For investors already long the memory complex, today’s move should reinforce basic position discipline given how much beta these names now carry into any China-related headline. The Roundhill Memory ETF’s mirror-image drop with the underlying stocks says that trimming a diversified fund doesn’t soften the sector risk here.
Investors adding on this weakness should size to the possibility that further Xi-visit-related headlines produce more single-day gaps in both directions across the group. No policy decision has actually been announced, and Washington’s own Commerce chief publicly opposed the arrangement last week, yet the tape is trading as if the risk is real and near-term.
Keep an eye on Micron stock for follow-through selling and additional analyst notes on qualification and yield at CXMT and YMTC. Any official readout from either capital as the September summit window approaches could drive the next share-price moves.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
On Tuesday, Aug. 18, Apple (AAPL -0.63%) announced new business terms for apps in the European Union, cutting its standard App Store commission from 30% to 26% and replacing its most contested fee with a simple 5% commission. Developers can sign the new terms now, and the changes take effect Oct. 1.
The company said the changes follow "close collaboration with the European Commission" and "resolve Apple's disagreements with the Commission over business terms and alternative distribution."
That last part is the news that matters for shareholders. The lower rates will leave more revenue with EU developers. But for Apple, the bigger event is the defusing of a regulatory fight that had already produced a 500 million euro fine and threatened more. Here's a look at the new rates -- and how much money is actually at stake.
Image source: Apple.
The new rate cardThe standard commission on EU App Store sales drops to 26%, from 30%. Apps using alternative payment processing pay 20%, and apps that link out to the web to complete purchases pay 15% on sales made within seven days of the tap. Members of Apple's Small Business Program, along with its Mini Apps and Video Partner programs, pay 15%, as do auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year. Those eligible apps pay 10% when they use alternative payments or link-outs.
The bigger structural change is the Core Technology Commission. Apps distributed outside the App Store (through rival marketplaces or the web) now pay a flat 5% commission on digital sales. That replaces the per-install Core Technology Fee -- the charge developers and regulators had contested most fiercely. The new terms also eliminate two other charges (an initial acquisition fee and a store services fee), and for the first time in the EU, developers can offer Apple's own payment system alongside alternatives in the same app.
In short, the fee sheet got shorter and cheaper. And that is what Brussels wanted.
The fight this defusesThe Digital Markets Act has been the tech giant's noisiest regulatory problem for two years. In April 2025, the European Commission fined the company 500 million euros (about $579 million) for preventing developers from steering customers to cheaper offers outside the App Store, and escalating penalties remained possible as the compliance arguments dragged on.
On Tuesday, the two sides stepped back from the fight. "The Commission welcomes Apple's changes to their business terms," the EU executive said in a statement, adding that it will monitor how the new terms are implemented.
Of course, a welcome is not a closed case, and the Digital Markets Act doesn't go away. But a dispute with a regulator that fines in the hundreds of millions has gone quiet -- Apple says its disagreements are resolved, and the Commission says it will watch how the new terms work in practice. That changes the risk attached to Apple's highest-margin segment.
Sizing the hitNow for the money. Apple's services segment produced $30.7 billion of revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2026 (the period ended June 27), up 12% year over year and a record for the June period. Growth cooled a bit from the fiscal second quarter's 16% pace, but even the slower rate adds more than $13 billion of new services revenue a year to a business already running at an annual pace above $120 billion.
The App Store sits alongside everything from iCloud storage to Apple TV inside that segment, and the EU slice of it is smaller still. Asked about earlier European changes on a 2024 earnings call, Apple's then-chief financial officer Luca Maestri said the EU market "represents roughly 7% of our global app store revenue."
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Set those figures side by side, and the four-point cut shrinks quickly. It applies only to the standard tier (small developers and second-year subscriptions already sit at 15%), and only in a region generating about 7% of App Store revenue. Even assuming every EU transaction took the full four-point cut, the hit would be a sliver of a services business growing 12% a year -- and a rounding error against the $29.8 billion of net income Apple earned last quarter. And that's the worst case. The real hit would likely be smaller.
So where does that leave the stock?
Shares trade around $311 as of this writing, about 10% below their record high. I'd argue Tuesday's announcement nudges the investment case in Apple's favor, if anything, because the stock's valuation was never resting on four points of EU commission. What Apple bought this week is a quieter fight and a simpler fee structure, in a region the company had already sized as a small piece of the App Store. The services business keeps growing either way.
Apple is cutting more than 200 jobs as the tech giant sharpens its focus on AI and updates its Siri digital assistant.
Roughly 100 of the eliminated positions are tied to the Vision Pro team.
Another 100 hit groups working on Siri and the Intelligent Systems Experience team, the division focused on bringing generative AI features into Apple devices.
This software reshuffle comes as Apple eliminates legacy engineering roles to clear room for specialists who can rebuild Siri on an entirely new generative AI architecture.
Apple is cutting more than 200 jobs. Future Publishing via Getty Images Apple confirmed the cuts, saying it was “looking to evolve our business to deliver the best experiences for our users.”
“While we will create new roles as part of this change, it will also impact a limited number of existing roles,” the company said.
Siri has lagged behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini for years, particularly when it comes to remembering what users were talking about and handling follow-up questions naturally.
Apple long-planned upgrade to the Siri virtual assistant has run into snags during testing. Bloomberg via Getty Images Siri has historically responded with a basic web link instead of actually answering the question.
The company’s revamped “Siri AI” in the public beta of iOS 18 has narrowed the functional gap by focusing on integration across its ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Vision Pro has become one of Apple’s biggest commercial disappointments.
Apple releases iOS 26.6.1 on an iPhone in Taichung, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.) ZUMAPRESS.com The headset features industry-leading micro-OLED displays and precise eye-tracking, but consumers haven’t embraced it.
Apple never released official sales figures, but estimated global sales fell to just 45,000 units in the final quarter of 2025.
In response, Apple is trimming its Vision Pro operations while shifting resources toward newer AI efforts and devices.
Apple’s Vision Pro has become one of Apple’s biggest commercial disappointments. Apple The company is also dealing with higher production costs as an AI-driven memory shortage pushes up expenses.
Apple raised prices on its Macs and iPads earlier this summer and recently introduced a leasing plan covering its major hardware products as it looks to bring in more customers while offsetting those costs.
When Tim Cook became CEO of Apple (AAPL -0.63%) in 2011, one of his biggest strategic shifts was returning capital to shareholders. He reinstated the company's dividend in 2012 and, more importantly, launched a massive stock buyback program.
Apple has spent more than any other company on stock buybacks over the last 10 years, according to research by The Motley Fool. Here's a closer look at how much it has spent and why this benefits shareholders.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Apple's stock buybacks during Tim Cook's tenure Cook has been part of multiple record-breaking share buybacks while CEO of Apple. Near the beginning of his tenure, the board authorized a $10 billion buyback for its fiscal 2013, but later raised that to $60 billion, the largest single share-repurchase authorization in history. It authorized repurchases of $100 billion in 2018 and $110 billion in 2024, with the latter still being its largest-ever buyback. In 2025 and 2026, it authorized $100 billion in buybacks.
A buyback authorization only means a company can spend up to that amount, not that it will. Apple normally uses most of it, though, and has bought back a whopping $877 billion in shares under Cook's leadership.
A (mostly) positive move for Apple shareholders After Apple buys back shares, it retires them. With fewer shares in circulation, every shareholder owns a larger slice of the company. Over a quarter or even a year, this is a relatively minor change. At Apple's market cap of $4.6 trillion (as of Aug. 19), a $100 billion repurchase authorization means buying back a little over 2% of the company.
But for a long-term investor, it makes a significant difference. Case in point, when Cook took over, Apple had about 26 billion split-adjusted outstanding shares. It reported 14.6 billion outstanding shares as of July 2026, so the share count has fallen by about 44%. A share purchased at the start of Cook's tenure now owns nearly 80% more than it did then.
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The caveat here is that Apple's valuation has risen significantly since the early days of its buyback program. It traded between 12 and 18 times earnings for much of the 2010s. It trades at 36 times trailing earnings as of this writing, while Apple and other top tech stocks have seen considerable price appreciation. Buying back shares at a higher valuation means less added value for shareholders.
Apple's repurchase program was a major tailwind for most of Cook's tenure. However, John Ternus will become the company's new CEO on Sept. 1, 2026, and the leadership transition could also signal a shift in strategy. Buybacks will remain part of Apple's approach, but the company may divert some of that capital to research and development or building through acquisitions. Given Apple's somewhat expensive valuation, either could prove a better growth driver than buying back shares.
