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.
John Ternus becomes CEO of Apple on Tuesday (Sept. 1), taking over a company whose defining strength has always been tight control of its own technology stack, hardware, software and the chips connecting them, but whose current artificial intelligence strategy runs largely on outside partners.
On his last day as Apple CEO, Tim Cook offered a rousing endorsement of his successor: John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. In a memo to employees, Cook reminded staff that he’s “not leaving Apple,” just stepping away from the role of CEO, while declaring that “few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does.”
Ternus’ elevation to the top job suggests that Apple’s next era will see a renewed focus on hardware and product execution. Under Ternus, Apple shipped a number of notable products, most recently, the new ultra-thin iPhone Air, the lower-cost MacBook Neo, and AirPods with hearing health features. He also led the hardware engineering team across Apple’s full device lineup.
Hardware will play an important role in the AI era, not only in terms of chips, but also the devices people use to run enterprise AI. Apple this year, for instance, offered earlier releases of its new Mac models, the Mac mini and Mac Studio, compared with years past, driven by AI demand.
Cook’s memo, reported by Bloomberg and others, naturally says little about Apple’s future when it comes to AI, services, regulation, China, or the other challenges that lie ahead. Instead, Cook focuses on his gratitude for the opportunity to lead Apple and exalts the company’s culture as ultimately what matters most.
“We share a belief that what we build matters and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it,” Cook wrote. He also referenced the famous Steve Jobs quote about leaving a “dent in the universe,” saying that Apple makes that possible because of “who we are and what we believe,” as well as “what we value and how we see the world.”
Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman and will continue to manage political relationships, including those with President Trump and the Chinese government.
On X, Cook also wrote: “Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO. 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!”
The full memo is below (via Bloomberg):
Team,
Today is my last day as CEO of Apple. This is a moment I always knew would come one day, and yet it is still hard to believe it has arrived and I am writing these words. I love this company and the team behind it, and I couldn’t let this day pass without sending a note to you to tell you how grateful I am for the outpouring of affection you’ve sent my way, for the way you’ve shown up each and every day, and most of all, for the privilege of a lifetime serving as your leader.
The truth is, whatever there is to say about my success, I know it is all because of you. You have brought out the best in me. In all my life, I have never seen or been with such an extraordinary team of people before, and every day I get to see more examples of that.
There is something truly special about Apple. I am most proud of what an annual report could never capture. This place is proof that culture triumphs over everything. We share a belief that what we build matters and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here. It is what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day.
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. 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. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.
As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I am stepping away from a role that I have loved deeply. I will miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision. I will miss leading you and being with you for every step, even as I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John. 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.
I hope you know how much I appreciate you and what an honor it has been to be your CEO. Most of all, I hope you will continue to be proud to be part of this remarkable place we call Apple and always give it your very best. When we bring our whole selves to this work, with care for one another and for the people we serve, there is no limit to the profound difference we can make.
I look forward to seeing you in my new role at Apple Park and around the world.
With all I have and all I am, I am always.
Yours,
Tim
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Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.
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You're going to have to dig a little deeper to keep up with Ted Lasso, Severance, and Slow Horses. Apple (AAPL -1.34%) announced on Friday that it's raising prices for its Apple TV+ streaming service.
Paying $14.99 a month for the popular on-demand streaming service may not seem like a lot. You're shelling out $0.50 a day for an expanding platform of content escapism. However, the problematic take is how quickly the streaming platform's monthly rate has crept higher since it launched almost seven years ago.
November 2019: $4.99 a month October 2022: $6.99 October 2023: $9.99 August 2025: $12.99 August 2026: $14.99
Image source: Getty Images.
Living up to the "+" in its name When Apple launched in the fall of 2019, it was easy to see why it chose an aggressive $4.99-per-month price point. Despite being a company known for charging a premium over the competition, it was starting its content catalog from scratch. It couldn't match the vault that global market leader Netflix (NFLX -0.94%) and other streaming service stocks were offering, even if the top dog had boosted its monthly rate from $10.99 to $12.99 earlier that year.
Disney's (DIS -0.54%) own namesake premium streaming service, Disney+, would launch a few days after Apple's platform. Despite having decades of content and some of the most iconic intellectual properties, the House of Mouse also rolled out its ad-free offering aggressively. Disney+ came out at $6.99 a month, giving theme park passholders, Disney credit card holders, and D23 fan club members the ability to lock in to multiyear prepaid pricing as low as $4.99 a month.
Other Big 6 media giants jumping into the game in 2020 and beyond with fuller content slates than Apple TV+ would also price their new services in the single digits. Comcast's (CMCSA -1.53%) Peacock Premium Plus and Paramount Skydance's (PSKY +0.60%) Paramount+ rebrand of CBS All Access set their initial monthly prices at $9.99.
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
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-1.34
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It adds up over time When cord-cutting started to gain momentum several years ago, the appeal of replacing costly satellite and cable TV services with a handful of affordable digital on-demand apps sounded great. Every increase -- and Paramount+ raised its prices just 10 days before Apple's increase -- adds up. Here is what ad-free premium services cost per month in the summer of 2020:
Netflix: $12.99 Disney's Hulu Premium: $11.99 HBO Max: $14.99 CBS All Access/Paramount+ Premium: $9.99 Disney+ Premium: $4.99 Peacock Premium Plus: $9.99 Apple TV+: $4.99 TOTAL: $69.93 a month Now let's price out these seven services today:
Netflix: $19.99 Hulu Premium: $18.99 HBO Max: $18.49 Paramount+ Premium: $13.99 Disney+ Premium: $18.99 Peacock Premium Plus: $19.99 Apple TV+: 14.99 TOTAL: $125.43 Before digging into the jaw-dropping inflation, I want to point out a few things. Many of these services are owned by companies that have stopped reporting or rarely offer domestic or global subscriber counts. They are listed in order of industry estimates for stateside paid subscribers on FlixPatrol.
I left out Disney's ESPN because it's a sports-centric service. I also cut out Amazon's (AMZN -2.38%) Prime Video since it's part of a broader shopper loyalty subscription. With those two, Apple TV+ would be the ninth largest premium video streaming service in the country. Does that seem like a service that should have tripled its price over the last four years? Even the mighty Apple stock has only doubled in that time.
Will Apple TV+ survive the inevitable shakeout? If you replaced your old cable TV plan with seven of the country's most popular streaming services four summers ago, $69.93 a month seemed reasonable. Today, you would be shelling out $125.43 a month, a 79% increase in five years.
The biggest shock is that it's not the most popular services taking advantage of the situation to jack up their monthly ransoms. They are up 23% to 58% over the past five years. Amazon's Prime subscription service has risen a modest 15% in that time. It's the smaller services like Apple TV+ that have roughly tripled in that time. How will that help them catch up in a game where strong attraction and retention result in scalability?
The value proposition is fading at Apple TV+, if not gone entirely. The next time the economy hits a speed bump, the smaller services that pushed out the highest increases will get pushed out of family budgets. Greed storms in with bragging rights but often ends in humbling exits.
Rick Munarriz has positions in Apple, Comcast, Netflix, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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.
Tim Cook turned Apple into a $4.7 trillion empire and left long-term investors sitting on gains that crushed the market, but with John Ternus now holding the keys and a 37 trailing P/E priced for perfection, the harder question is…
Cook Answered the Skeptics, Now Ternus Takes the Baton When Tim Cook took over Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) on August 24, 2011, the consensus was that no operator could replace Steve Jobs. Cook proved that view wrong. He scaled the iPhone franchise into a global platform, reinstated the dividend, launched Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, and built Services into a high-margin recurring engine that just posted $30.7 billion in a single quarter. Along the way, Apple crossed every market cap milestone that mattered and now carries a $4.7 trillion valuation.
The refresh here is the handoff. Cook moves to the executive board chair position, and John Ternus becomes CEO. Cook’s last earnings call as chief executive was on July 30, 2026, when he said, “I truly have never been more optimistic.” Ternus inherits a fresh Siri AI unveiled at WWDC, an iPhone 17 cycle running at 22% growth, and a $30 billion Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) silicon agreement anchoring U.S. supply. (We profiled seven suppliers powering the AI data-center buildout, from power to cooling, in a free report you can grab here).
What a $5,000 Stake Turned Into Apple closed at $319.70 on August 28, 2026. Here is how $5,000 would have tracked against the S&P 500.
Since Cook Took Over (August 24, 2011)
Initial investment: $5,000 Apple total return: 2,741.55% Current value: $142,077.50 S&P 500 gain (same period): 551.55% Apple S&P 500 1-Year Return 37.98% 18.56% 5-Year Return 120.56% 70.87% 10-Year Return 1,218.99% 252.91% The compounding was not painless. Long-term holders sat through the 2018 China scare, the 2020 COVID crash, and a nasty 2022 correction when rates repriced every megacap. The shares have also softened 6.0% over the trailing month. Cook still earns an A for the era: he scaled a mature franchise while returning tens of billions to shareholders, including $33 billion in the June quarter alone.
Investing Now? Investors should consider putting $5,000 into Apple today if they believe Siri AI will reaccelerate the upgrade cycle, Services keeps compounding at double digits, and the Broadcom deal meaningfully reduces supply concentration risk. Ternus represents a clean institutional handoff, which should compress any succession discount.
However, if the September guidance of 9% to 11% revenue growth marks a peak, if the “100-year flood on memory pricing” keeps compressing margin, and if EU App Store rulings compound with the U.S. link-out case, caution may be warranted. A 37x trailing P/E leaves little room for error, and analyst targets cluster near $324.45, roughly in line with where the stock trades. The $5,000 example is a historical illustration of what Cook built, not a green light on today’s entry price.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Tim Cook moved billions of iPhones and doubled Apple's slice of the S&P 500, yet one looming question about his legacy may overshadow all of it: did sitting out the AI arms race save Apple or doom it?
According to International Data Corporation, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) sold 3.1 billion iPhones under Tim Cook’s leadership. The FT says Apple’s market cap went from about 3% of the S&P 500 to 6% today. Toward the end of that run, Apple’s relation to the S&P flattened at between 6% and 8%. In the last few years, companies have gained on Apple’s place. at the top of the market cap ladder.
In particular, its market cap dropped below Nvidia’s (NASDAQ: NVDA). Apple’s hardware sales core gave way to Nvidia’s AI chips. Nevertheless, Apple remains in No. 2 at $4.78 trillion. Nvidia’s is $5.25 trillion. For all their AI prowess, every other stock in the Magnificent 7 sits behind Apple in value.
If there is one criticism of Cook’s tenure, it is that he could not come up with a product that came anywhere close to the iPhone’s success. Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone in 2007, so it is nearly two decades old. That is a very long time to have a single flagship product. However, Cook updated it so often and added features. The iPhone has been the most profitable smartphone. For most of Cook’s tenure, it has been the best-selling. From time to time, Samsung moved ahead.
It is hard to say what Cook’s reputation will be regarding AI. His attempt to build Apple’s own software did not work. Its top engineers went to other companies. Cook eventually adopted Google’s Gemini product, which it will pay $1 billion a year for. Gemini will power Apple Intelligence and Siri. Apple seems to have gotten the better deal financially, but Gemini gets huge distribution across Apple’s installed hardware base. That will help it compete with OpenAI and Anthropic.
Another benefit Apple may end up having in the AI sector is that it is not in the race for expansion that is costing OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and several others hundreds of billions of dollars to build AI data centers. If AI growth slows, these moves will become among the worst decisions in US business history. Apple will not have drained its bank account betting on a single horse.
Cook will have sold a lot of iPhones. But will staying on the AI sideline look brilliant or like a huge mistake?
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
On a recent edition of CNBC’s Mad Money Lightning Round, Jim Cramer fielded questions from viewers. Two of Cramer’s clearest calls were to buy Vale (NYSE:VALE | VALE Price Prediction) as an inflation hedge comparable to cryptocurrency and to stay long Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) through an upcoming leadership change. “Just as…
On a recent edition of CNBC’s Mad Money Lightning Round, Jim Cramer fielded questions from viewers. Two of Cramer’s clearest calls were to buy Vale (NYSE:VALE | VALE Price Prediction) as an inflation hedge comparable to cryptocurrency and to stay long Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) through an upcoming leadership change.
“Just as Good as Crypto”: Cramer’s Inflation Case for Vale Asked about the Brazilian miner, Cramer said, “This is if you believe, as I do, that we could have rampant inflation down the road. This is one of the best places to do it. And I would actually use it as a great hedge. Just as good as crypto.“
Cramer is placing an iron ore, copper, and nickel producer alongside crypto as an asset for purchasing-power protection. The setup matches Vale’s actual Q2 FY26 mix. Iron Ore Fines generated $6.64 billion, Copper $1.56 billion (up 62%), and Nickel $1.24 billion (up 23%) in the quarter, with iron ore reference prices up 11% year over year, copper up 40% on the LME, and gold up 53%.
Vale reported revenue of $10.50 billion, up 19.2% YoY, and pro forma EBITDA of $4.07 billion, and the board approved $1.7 billion in dividends and interest on capital payable on September 1, 2026, alongside a buyback for up to 100 million shares over 18 months. Vale trades at $15.31, with a one-year gain of 56.52% and a year-to-date gain of 20.9%. Shares carry a forward P/E of 8 and an analyst target price of $16.74.
Cramer Backs Apple’s Next Chapter On Apple, Cramer said, “I do think it’s still a good buy. I would own this, not trade it. I know we’ve got a new CEO coming in, and I have made no secret of how great I think Tim Cook is. I do want to get to know the new CEO, and I don’t know John Ternus. However, I do think the company is going to be in good hands if Tim Cook says it’s in good hands, because he has never been anything other than true north for me.”
Cramer admits he does not know the incoming executive and treats Cook’s endorsement as sufficient. On Apple’s Q3 FY26 call, Cook said of new CEO John Ternus, “I couldn’t be more confident in his leadership, in our executive team, and in the extraordinary people at Apple.”
Apple posted a June-quarter record of $109.4 billion in revenue, up 16%, with iPhone revenue of $54.3 billion (up 22%), Services of $30.7 billion (up 12%), and diluted EPS of $2.02, up 29%. The company returned $33 billion to shareholders in the quarter. Shares trade at $316.18, up 36.99% over one year, against an average analyst price target of $324.45.
Cisco’s Guidance Disappoints, but Cramer Defends the Quarter On Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Cramer said, “Cisco actually had a really good quarter. And I know that they gave very conservative guidance. But that’s all it was. It knocked the stock down 8 dollars.” Cisco reported Q4 FY26 revenue of $17.25 billion, up 17.6% YoY, with $4 billion in AI orders in the quarter and non-GAAP EPS of $1.22. The stock is still up 47.7% year to date.
On Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX), Cramer flagged that a recommendation from two months prior was up 33% at the time of the call. BDX raised FY26 adjusted EPS guidance to $12.62 to $12.72 after its first full quarter as “New BD.”
Key Takeaways Cramer’s strongest endorsements rested on different arguments: Vale’s commodity exposure as an inflation hedge and Apple’s leadership continuity under Tim Cook’s chosen successor. He also defended Cisco’s quarter despite disappointing guidance.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
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.
DISNEY SETTLEMENT COULD PAY YOUTUBE TV AND DIRECTV USERS
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)
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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.
WASHINGTON POST FACES CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT ALLEGING 'SURVEILLANCE PRICING' OF SUBSCRIBERS
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 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.
See Also Five stocks we like better than Apple 3 Financial Stocks Positioned for the Fed’s Next Move After Jackson Hole IREN’s AI Pivot Looks Real, But the Market Wanted a Faster Payoff After Earnings Boeing’s $131B F-15 Win: Mach 1 Momentum or Just Altitude? Okta Stock Surges 29%—Is $200 the Next Stop?
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Abound Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,867 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.2% of Abound Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Abound Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Apple 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 Apple Price Performance Shares of AAPL stock opened at $319.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $312.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.43. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $225.95 and a 12 month high of $344.57. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. 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. 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 company’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The firm 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.53.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 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 that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
Featured Articles Five stocks we like better than Apple 3 Financial Stocks Positioned for the Fed’s Next Move After Jackson Hole IREN’s AI Pivot Looks Real, But the Market Wanted a Faster Payoff After Earnings Boeing’s $131B F-15 Win: Mach 1 Momentum or Just Altitude? Okta Stock Surges 29%—Is $200 the Next Stop?
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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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Apple Inc. remains Berkshire Hathaway's largest holding, reflecting confidence in its compounding power and strategic positioning. In the meantime, AAPL continued consistent growth in FQ3 2026 earnings and confirmed a CEO transition to John Ternus. I am confident about the new leadership to preserve the company's well-established earning power and shareholder return mechanisms.
On Sept. 1, Apple (AAPL +1.63%) gets its first new CEO in 15 years. John Ternus, the company's head of hardware engineering and a 25-year Apple veteran, takes over from Tim Cook, who becomes executive chairman of the board.
Apple announced the plan in April, and the board approved it unanimously. It is a planned handoff to someone from inside the company, just as large tech firms typically do.
The stock, meanwhile, enters the change near record territory. Apple's market cap approaches $4.6 trillion as of this writing, over 30% above where it was a year ago, and shares sit about 9% off the all-time high they set this summer.
So what does a moment like this typically do to a stock? Since 2011, four planned CEO handoffs with internal promotions at U.S. megacap tech companies have a completed first year to judge. A fifth is too recent to qualify: Oracle promoted two in-house executives to co-CEO last September, so its first year is not complete. The four on record have almost nothing in common.
Image source: Apple.
Four handoffs, four different yearsThe most famous is Apple's own. Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO on Aug. 24, 2011, handing the post to Tim Cook, the company's head of operations. Over the following 12 months, Apple stock rose about 76%.
Microsoft named Satya Nadella, an in-house veteran, CEO on Feb. 4, 2014. The stock rose about 15% over the following 12 months (a good year, though hardly a preview of the cloud-driven streak that followed).
Alphabet promoted Sundar Pichai, who already ran Google, to CEO of the parent company on Dec. 3, 2019. Twelve months later, the stock had risen about 41%, even with the 2020 pandemic crash falling in the middle of that window.
And then there is the outlier case. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos handed the CEO post to veteran cloud chief Andy Jassy on July 5, 2021. Over the following 12 months, Amazon shares fell about 38%.
Average those four first years and you get a gain of about 24%. But the average hides the point. Such scattered results -- a deep loss, a modest year, and two large gains -- suggest that the handoffs themselves did not drive them.
The handoff was never the variableLook closely at the four cases, and what really decided each first year was the starting point the new CEO inherited, not the person.
Cook took over a stock trading near 15 times earnings just as the iPhone was entering its most pronounced growth years. Nadella inherited a similar price, about 14 times earnings, with much of Microsoft's transformation to the cloud still ahead. And Pichai took Alphabet at about 26 times earnings with digital advertising still compounding.
Jassy, by contrast, took Amazon just days from what was then its all-time high, at a price near 70 times earnings, right as pandemic-era e-commerce growth was stalling. The stock's terrible first year under Jassy seems to have had little to do with him. It was the price and the cycle, unwinding at the same time.
In each case, the market spent the first year repricing the business the new CEO received. None of the four stocks seems to have moved much because of the succession itself -- they were planned transitions to insiders the market already knew.
Ternus inherits a good hand at a high priceApple's starting point today sits somewhere between the comfortable ones and Amazon's. At about 36 times earnings, the stock is more than twice as expensive as the one Cook inherited. And the market value rise of more than 30% over the past 12 months already covers both the succession announcement and a streak of good results. Easy gains, put another way, may already be behind the stock.
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However, 36 times earnings is also nowhere near Amazon's multiple of about 70 times earnings during its handoff. And Apple enters the change with momentum instead of a stall, with a new generation of iPhone likely this fall and a services business that continues to compound.
After a decade covering large tech stocks, I can't think of a planned megacap succession the market actually feared, and the four first years above say it was right not to. History says the handoff itself will probably be a non-event. It also says that the first-year return will be decided by what Ternus inherited -- the iPhone cycle, artificial intelligence (AI) features, and a demanding price.
For investors who already own the stock, the transition is not a reason to sell. I'd keep holding Apple through it. I just wouldn't expect Cook's version of the first year at today's valuation.
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.
Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple From SaaS-pocalypse to Perfect Storm: Workday’s AI Growth Story Strengthens These 3 GARP Stocks Show Why Growth and Value Do Not Have to Clash Venture Into High-Volatility Corners of the Market With These 3 ETFs 3 Retail Stocks to Watch After a Big Consumer Earnings Week 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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Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,361,063 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 23,989 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.9% of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,261,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Apple Stock Performance 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. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.95 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $312.24 and its 200-day moving average is $288.43.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year. Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.
Insider Activity at Apple In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total transaction of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.53.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
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 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.
Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple From SaaS-pocalypse to Perfect Storm: Workday’s AI Growth Story Strengthens These 3 GARP Stocks Show Why Growth and Value Do Not Have to Clash Venture Into High-Volatility Corners of the Market With These 3 ETFs 3 Retail Stocks to Watch After a Big Consumer Earnings Week
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Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,048 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its position in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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 Apple Trading Up 1.6% 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 50 day moving average price is $312.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.43. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57. The company has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The firm 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.
Insiders Place Their Bets In related 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 value of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were 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 $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. China Renaissance lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $285.56 to $263.66 in a report on Monday, August 10th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.53.
View Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
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.
Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple From SaaS-pocalypse to Perfect Storm: Workday’s AI Growth Story Strengthens These 3 GARP Stocks Show Why Growth and Value Do Not Have to Clash Venture Into High-Volatility Corners of the Market With These 3 ETFs 3 Retail Stocks to Watch After a Big Consumer Earnings Week 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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It's easy to assume that a typical Warren Buffett dividend stock would be some stodgy value stock. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- Coca-Cola has minted its fair share of millionaires. But "stodgy" probably isn't a word you would use to describe Apple (AAPL +1.63%).
Ironically, Apple is Berkshire Hathaway's largest position and one of Buffett's crowning achievements from a legendary career. Many dividend investors lean toward higher yields than Apple's 0.3%, but here's why dismissing the tech giant as a bona fide dividend stock might be a huge mistake.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Apple's ecosystem should continue driving profits and dividends higher People love their iPhones. The brand moat of Apple products is the basis for Buffett's fascination with the company. Of course, Apple's hardware ecosystem goes far beyond phones, including wearable accessories, tablets, and computers.
Apple complements its hardware with an array of subscriptions and a massive app store. Both generate recurring, high-margin revenue for Apple. It's the secret sauce that has made Apple one of the world's most profitable companies.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Most people tend to stick to Apple devices once they get used to them, upgrading their devices every so often.
The company has taken some interesting steps recently to broaden its appeal to a wider range of consumers. Its new entry-level laptop, the MacBook Neo, has been a big hit. Apple has also introduced leasing programs to lower the financial hurdles to entering its ecosystem.
Despite Apple's massive size, there's still growth potential. Analysts expect the company to grow earnings by an average of 13% annually over the next three to five years. The dividend yield is small, but the payout is still just 12% of 2026 earnings estimates. There's plenty of room for that dividend to go higher.
How Apple's buybacks can actually help dividend investors
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Moneyball Superscore
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Some may point out that Apple spends a ton of its profits on buying back its own shares. In fact, the company has spent $82 billion on buybacks over the past four quarters alone, and has lowered its share count by 31.5% over the past decade.
That shouldn't turn dividend investors away. A lower share count inflates the company's per-share profits. The connection most people make is that higher per-share profits mean a higher share price, and they often do.
They also mean Apple can pay a higher per-share dividend with the same total cash it spends. In other words, the buybacks help Apple grow its dividend faster than its actual dividend payout ratio would suggest. It's an advantage that few companies can claim.
Consider that when deciding whether to slot Apple into your dividend stock portfolio.
John Ternus takes over as Apple's chief executive on Tuesday, inheriting a company that towers over the smartphone market but trails its rivals in artificial intelligence.
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.
PatentVest's newest PV Pulse analysis finds Apple's and Microsoft's AI smart glasses–relevant patent portfolios outrank Google's, Snap's, and Samsung's — despite neither company selling an AI smart glasses product | Source: PatentVest, Inc.
Dallas,TX, Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PatentVest, a provider of patent-based competitive intelligence for technology, IP, and innovation leaders, today released its newest PV Pulse report, "Who's Actually Building the AI in AI Smart Glasses?" The report analyzes validated patent activity across 12 companies shaping the category — the seven companies currently building or shipping AI smart glasses, two component suppliers whose IP sits underneath nearly every product in the space, and three large technology companies with no shipping product at all.
The analysis finds that two of those three non-shipping companies, Apple and Microsoft, hold some of the strongest AI-capability patent positions in the entire category. Apple's validated portfolio — an estimated 1,550 patent families — is larger than Google's or Snap's, and ranks in the top three across every AI capability area PatentVest measured, including eye tracking, gesture, perception, and voice. Microsoft's AR-rendering portfolio (409 families) is nearly tied with Meta's (445) — the exact patent category behind the Ray-Ban Meta and Orion strategy. Neither Apple nor Microsoft sells a single pair of AI smart glasses today.
“Ask most people in this industry who's actually leading the AI smart glasses race, and they'll name the companies with products on shelves,” the report states. “The patent office is telling a different story.”
AMONG THE REPORT'S OTHER FINDINGS:
Meta holds the largest validated portfolio in the category, at approximately 1,900 patent families, with a clear lead in AR rendering, gesture, eye tracking, perception, and wearable form factor.Samsung's widely cited 1,525-family patent count is misleading: split by legal entity, Samsung Electronics' legitimate glasses-system portfolio is closer to 550 validated families, while the larger share of Samsung Display's count is upstream OLED-panel manufacturing IP, not smart-glasses technology.EssilorLuxottica — Meta's own manufacturing partner for Ray-Ban Meta — holds an estimated 530 validated patent families on its own, more than XREAL, Xiaomi, and Vuzix combined (approximately 380), despite not being a glasses brand itself.While Meta, Google, Snap, Xiaomi, and XREAL all reached their highest single-year filing count in 2022, Microsoft's filing activity peaked in 2017 and has cooled since — even as its AR-rendering portfolio remains nearly tied with Meta's. The companies most people assume are competing in AI smart glasses and the companies actually building the underlying IP behind the category turn out to be two different lists, a gap this report is built to surface for anyone tracking the space."
The full report includes a company-by-company breakdown across eight AI capability battlegrounds — AR rendering, voice, perception, gesture, eye tracking, privacy, memory/agent, and wearable form factor, along with jurisdictional filing data, portfolio maturity analysis, and a look at which companies built their AI capabilities organically versus through acquisition.
The full PV Pulse report, “Who's Actually Building the AI in AI Smart Glasses?,” is now available here:https://insights.patentvest.com/whos-actually-building-the-ai-in-ai-smart-glasses.
About PatentVest
PatentVest is an AI-native intellectual property strategy and IP law company helping technology-driven organizations build stronger, future-defensible patent portfolios while accelerating commercialization and maximizing enterprise value. By combining proprietary AI workflows with experienced intellectual property professionals, PatentVest delivers strategic IP advisory, portfolio management, patent prosecution, and commercialization-focused solutions that improve quality, consistency, and efficiency across the innovation lifecycle.
PatentVest is building the next generation of intellectual property workflows by combining AI-enabled automation with expert review and standardized quality controls. Its approach is designed to help innovators make better filing decisions, reduce unnecessary patent spend, and protect their most valuable assets with greater confidence and predictability.
As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock rallied to its all-time high (ATH) in 2026 fueled by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom, $10,000 invested in this company at the beginning of the year has delivered double-digit percentage gains.
Specifically, $10,000 invested in Apple stock on January 1 is now worth $11,603 on August 27, 2026. As such, an investor who risked $10,000 on AAPL at the beginning of this year has made a profit of over $1,603.
AAPL price YTD. Source: Finbold On January 2, 2026, Apple stock traded at $271.01, thereby fetching approximately 37.9 AAPL shares. In addition to the underlying stock value, the initial investment was eligible for three Apple quarterly dividend payouts.
The three Apple dividend payouts of 2026 include $0.26 per share on February 12, $0.27 per share on March 14, and August 13. As such, the initial $10,000 has fetched an additional $30.32 in dividends, before taxes.
Why is Apple stock up so far in 2026? Apple stock climbed over 16% YTD catalyzed by the AI boom, which played a crucial part in the company’s increased product sales. During its fiscal 2026 Q3 earnings results, this company reported revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year-over-year (YoY), thus beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $108.86 billion.
In a bid to keep up with the AI market trends, Apple recently unveiled several new products including, Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra, Mac mini featuring M6 and M5 Pro chips to boost AI productivity.
Consequently, Wamsi Mohan, a Wall Street analyst from Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), recently reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating for APPL stock. Additionally, he set the bank’s 12 month price targeted at $380, suggesting a potential 20.58% upside.
Featured image via Shutterstock
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Apple shipped the Mac Mini as a straightforward desktop. Then people worked out they could run agentic AI workflows on it locally, and Bob O'Donnell, President of TECHnalysis Research, says Apple did not plan for that at all.
Apple is laying off nearly 150 employees as it restructures to focus on artificial intelligence, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday (Aug. 27). The job cuts are at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and Sunnyvale offices, the report said.
Li Auto Inc‘s (NASDAQ:LI) ambition extends beyond building electric vehicles. During its second quarter earnings call on Wednesday, the Chinese automaker revealed the strategic philosophy behind its growing investment in proprietary chips and batteries, saying it wants to emulate Apple Inc. and Huawei by controlling the technologies that matter most—while making clear it has no intention of replacing partners like Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and CATL.
Li Auto Says In-House Technology Is About Control, Not Replacing SuppliersAs competition in electric vehicles increasingly shifts toward software, artificial intelligence and vertically integrated technology, Li Auto says owning key components will become a defining competitive advantage.
That doesn’t mean the company is turning its back on existing suppliers.
CFO Johnny T. Li addressed that perception directly. “I need to emphasize, by choosing to develop these components in-house doesn’t mean that our suppliers’ products aren’t great.”
He then singled out two of the industry’s biggest technology leaders.
“We developed our in-house Mach M100 chips. That doesn’t make NVIDIA any less respectable as the best chip company in the world. As we develop our in-house batteries, that doesn’t make CATL any less respectable as [one of] the best battery companies. Well, CATL as well as many other brands, which are all great battery brands. That doesn’t make them any less respectable.”
The distinction matters. Rather than replacing leading suppliers, Li Auto says its objective is to own more of the technology stack that differentiates its vehicles over the long term.
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Why Li Auto Thinks Apple and Huawei Offer the Better BlueprintManagement argued that the auto industry is entering an era where intelligent software and hardware integration will matter as much as mechanical engineering.
Earlier in the call, executives said that chips and batteries will be the most important competitive advantage. The company has already developed its own autonomous driving chip, battery cells, battery packs, battery management systems and thermal management technologies, with Li Auto-branded batteries expected to begin rolling out across its vehicles during the second half of the year.
That strategy led to perhaps the most revealing comment of the earnings call.
Li Auto is building the technology internally, management said, to be “like companies like Apple and Huawei” — firms that keep their most critical components in their own hands.
The comparison is notable because Apple and Huawei have both spent years designing critical technologies internally, allowing them to tightly integrate hardware and software while reducing reliance on third-party suppliers. Li Auto says it is pursuing a similar philosophy as intelligent vehicles become increasingly AI-driven.
Investment TakeawayLi Auto’s message wasn’t that Nvidia or CATL are becoming less important. In fact, management explicitly said the opposite. The hidden insight is that Li Auto increasingly views long-term competitiveness through the lens of technology ownership rather than vehicle manufacturing alone.
For investors, the key question isn’t whether the company can replace industry leaders—it is whether its investment in proprietary chips, batteries and software can create the same kind of durable competitive moat that companies like Apple and Huawei have built over time.
Apple has news to “surprise” us on Sept 9, but what do you mean there's a new Mac Mini with M6 chip suddenly on sale? Don't count on a typical September from Apple.
Apple (AAPL +1.63%) has been a transformative tech company, completely disrupting the smartphone market by introducing touchscreen controls, internet service, and easy access to texting, music, and games. But dramatic innovations have been far less common in its more recent iPhone models, leading some of the shine to come off Apple.
Is that about to change? Apple has scheduled an iPhone launch event for Sept. 9, marking the first such event under the leadership of John Ternus, who is taking over from Tim Cook as CEO on Sept. 1.
Ternus' first launch event could be huge -- and include a product that would be Apple's biggest phone change since it rolled out its iPhone X and 3D facial recognition.
Apple incoming CEO John Ternus. Image source: Apple.
The folding iPhone may finally be hereThe Sept. 9 event is widely expected to focus on the iPhone 18 family of products, including the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. That will likely also include the new 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, which is expected to run cooler and longer, and a C2 chip that would provide better battery efficiency, enhanced privacy, and improved performance in congested data networks.
But if you're looking for a bigger physical change, you'll likely be more interested in the company's upcoming iPhone Fold (or possibly called iPhone Ultra), which will be Apple's first folding smartphone. Several other companies, including Motorola, Samsung, and Alphabet, market phones designed to fold like a book. The result is a product with a tablet-like display but compact enough to fit in a pocket or purse.
Apple's entrant is expected to have two screens -- one that is 5.3 inches and used as a typical smartphone, and an internal 7.8-inch screen that can be unfolded.
But the price could be steep. Published reports indicate that the foldable phone would be priced at $2,000 or more.
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Will there be changes in AI products?Apple has been working on Apple Intelligence and updates to its AI assistant Siri, announcing earlier this year that it was rolling out Siri AI as a next-generation version. Apple has called it a "profoundly more intelligent, knowledgeable, and capable Siri" and says it will be able to answer questions about something on a user's screen and get real-time information from websites and apps.
Apple's AI strategy is different from other major tech companies -- rather than investing in cloud infrastructure and computing capacity, Apple is focused on embedding AI applications and intelligence on its operating systems and devices through third-party technology. The idea is to protect user data and focus on the user experience rather than spending billions on compute.
That strategy has paid off so far this year -- Apple stock is up more than 15% on the year, making it the second-best performing stock in the Magnificent Seven grouping, behind only Nvidia.
Apple's newest products will integrate with Apple Intelligence, and the company is also expected to unveil upgraded smart home products this year that are compatible with its latest AI offerings.
Earnings for the fiscal third quarter (ending June 27) included revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% from a year ago. Net income was $29.79 billion, up from $23.43 billion a year ago, and earnings per share of $2.02 were an improvement from $1.57 per share.
Apple's folding phone, when unveiled, won't be the first one on the market, but it will be a markedly different product than Apple consumers are used to. And considering Apple's reputation of having a very loyal customer base -- some estimates put the brand retention rate at close to 90% -- then the folding phone could make John Ternus first year a big one for Apple and Apple stock.
On CNBC’s “Mad Money Lightning Round,” Jim Cramer recommended buying Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), noting that it had a really good quarter. “I know that they gave very conservative guidance, but that’s all it was,” he added.
On Aug. 12, Cisco reported better-than-expected financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. The company guided for fiscal year 2027 revenue of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion versus estimates of $68.69 billion. The company also guided for full-year adjusted earnings of $5.05 to $5.11 per share, versus estimates of $4.80 per share.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:APPL) is “still a good buy” and he would own the stock, not trade it, Cramer said. “I know we’ve got a new CEO coming in, and I have made no secret of how great I think Tim Cook is. I do want to get to know the new CEO, and I don’t know John Ternus. However, I do think the company is going to be in good hands if Tim Cook says it’s in good hands because he has never been anything other than true north for me,” he added.
On Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its “Surprise and shine” event will begin at 10 a.m. PT on Sept. 9, with the presentation expected to take place at Apple Park and stream online. The event will be particularly significant because Ternus will succeed Cook as CEO on Sept. 1.
“Now look, if you believe, as I do, that we could have rampant inflation down the road,” Cramer said when asked about Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE). “I would actually use it to hedge.”
Trending
B of A Securities analyst Caio Ribeiro downgraded Vale from Buy to Neutral on Aug. 5 and lowered the price target from $18 to $16.
When asked about ERock Inc (NYSE:EROC), he said, “We’re not going to do this one. I mean, if you’re going to go there, you’ve got to go with CoreWeave (NYSE:CRWV).”
On the earnings front, ERock reported better-than-expected second-quarter results on Aug. 11.
Price Action:
Vale shares gained 1% to settle at $15.31 on Thursday. Apple shares rose 0.4% to close at $314.58 during the session. Cisco fell 0.2% to settle at $112.15 on Thursday. Erock shares gained 1.9% to close at $13.23. Photo via Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
NVIDIA just posted triple-digit growth and Apple called its strongest June quarter ever, but only one of them will hold the largest market cap on earth when Q3 closes. The gap is narrower than either camp wants to admit.
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.
Trending
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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Photo via Shutterstock.com
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Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock is in focus as the market expects the company to launch its first foldable iPhone model on September 9.
As the shares have been quite volatile over the past month, we asked Finbold’s AI prediction agent to set an Apple stock price target on the iPhone fold release date.
Overall, the artificial intelligence (AI) prediction agent was quite optimistic, forecasting an average AAPL share price of $318.22 on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, implying a 10.64% gain from the current price of $287.61.
AAPL stock price prediction. Source: Finbold AI predicts Apple stock price on iPhone fold launch date The machine algorithm combined the forecasts generated by ChatGPT 5.7 Luna, DeepSeek Chat, and Google Gemini 3.5 Flash, three oteh leading large language models (LLMs).
Notably, all three LLMs gave nearly identical figures, implying strong conviction that the tech company is going to rally by Apple iPhone fold launch.
ChatGPT had the most bullish Apple stock projection, predicting a 11.4% rally from the reference levels with a September 9 price of $320.4.
Google’s Gemini model projected the stock would rise to $318.5, which implies a gain of 10.74%. Finally, DeepSeek generated an average AAPL price of $315.75, or a 9.78% uptick.
LLMs predict AAPL price target. Source: Finbold Apple’s long-awaited foldable iPhone model could help reverse a downturn in the foldable smartphone market, with more than 10 million units being set to ship in 2027, according to a Bloomberg report.
The device will mark Apple’s first entry into foldable hardware, and the expected price tag of around $2,500 is already at the centre of attention.
Currently, the International Data Corporation (IDC) expects the foldable market to grow 12.6% in 2026 and accelerate to 18% growth next year. By 2027, Apple is expected to account for 40% of global foldable smartphone shipments.
Following the initial reports, Apple stock gained 1% on August 27 and is now sitting on another 0.5% uptick in pre-market trading at press time on August 28.
Featured image via Shutterstock
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Tim Cook took the reins as CEO of Apple (AAPL +1.63%) on Aug. 24, 2011, when he replaced Steve Jobs. Since that date, shares of the consumer technology powerhouse have climbed a jaw-dropping 2,240% (as of Aug. 27). The company's market capitalization exploded from $349 billion then to $4.6 trillion today.
On Sept. 1, John Ternus will become the next CEO of Apple. He's stepping into the role after having been senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021. He has massive shoes to fill.
Apple is welcoming Ternus into the top job right before the stock market typically has its worst month of the year. But don't panic and sell your stake. Instead, stay focused on the long term.
Here's what investors should know.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Here comes September sadness The S&P 500 index (^GSPC -0.25%) has generated notable wealth for patient and diversified investors over time. Its average annual total return is about 10%. This means a $10,000 starting capital outlay, sitting idle without any further cash infusions, would be worth $174,000 in 30 years. No one will argue with that outcome.
However, the market has never risen in a straight line, and there will be plenty of times when investors won't be enjoying gains. To own stocks, you need to be able to handle the volatility along the way. This is timely advice to remember right now.
There's something called the September effect that investors might want to get familiar with. September, on average, is the worst month of the year for stocks. During the 10 Septembers from 2016 through 2025, the S&P 500 index posted an average return of negative 1.3%.
Of course, this doesn't guarantee that the market will decline during the next month. In five of those 10 years, the S&P 500 actually gained ground.
Long-term investors should be unfazed What is known to be the worst month in the stock market is awaiting John Ternus as he becomes CEO of Apple. He's taking control of one of the world's most dominant businesses after two highly successful leaders in Cook and Jobs called the shots.
Leadership changes don't always go smoothly. And as mentioned, the S&P 500 index has a rough track record in Septembers.
Should Apple shareholders dump their holdings? That might seem like a sound play. But it's not the right move to make.
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Ternus isn't an external hire. He has been with Apple since 2001. There are few people on Earth who have as deep an understanding of this business as he does. This significantly reduces the risk of him making any operational or strategic blunders.
Additionally, Ternus has been in his current role on the executive team for five years. He oversaw the numerous new devices Apple launched this decade. He knows precisely what variables drive the company's success in hardware and product development.
I believe it'll be business as usual for Ternus. He doesn't have to reinvent the wheel here. Apple has become one of the most successful companies ever. There's no need to mess with what's been working for so long.
And clearly, the iPhone -- Apple's cash cow product -- is working. Over the first three quarters of its fiscal 2026 (a period that ended June 27), iPhone sales jumped 22% year over year. Demand for the latest iPhone 17 family has been impressive, despite the fact that many consumers are still waiting to buy until there's an artificial intelligence update for Siri.
At its September event, Apple is expected to unveil a foldable iPhone, among other announcements. As is typically the case, this should drum up renewed interest in the brand and shine a spotlight on its innovation prowess. Ternus knows how important it will be to start his tenure on the right foot.
And on the topic of September being a negative month historically for the S&P 500 index, long-term investors shouldn't be fazed. Assuming you have decades until it's time to retire, a single month's performance will have little impact on how your portfolio will do. The best investors stay the course.
Buy AAPL. The stock is in a strong uptrend (weekly ADX ~45, MACD positive) and still not stretched (weekly RSI ~57). Fundamentals are improving (iPhone sales +21.7% in the latest quarter; guidance strong). The market is also positioned for an AI/Siri and refreshed iPhone cycle, which typically drives pre-event buying.
Key Risk: Foldable iPhone disappoints on timing, specs, or pricing power, causing investors to fade the whole event narrative and the stock to unwind after the rally.
Apple TV pricing momentum
Buy AAPL and favor Apple TV-related upside via AAPL exposure. The Apple TV price hike (monthly $14.99 vs $12.99; annual $119 vs $99) plus Apple One increase signals margin support from services. If the September event reinforces services monetization (bundles, AI features tied to subscriptions), the market can re-rate AAPL’s earnings quality.
Key Risk: Services growth slows or churn rises after the price hikes, forcing management to walk back pricing or guide weaker margins.
Apple AAPL stock rose 1.5% on Friday, extending a strong run ahead of the company’s September 9 product event.
Shares are up roughly 37% over the past year, with investors watching for a refreshed iPhone lineup and the potential debut of Apple’s first foldable device.
Apple has confirmed its September 9 launch event, which will come shortly after John Ternus takes over as CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who will become executive chairman.
The leadership transition has added another point of focus for investors.
Analysts cited in the provided material see Ternus’ appointment as a shift toward greater technical leadership and system-level execution. Apple shares have gained more than 17% since his appointment was announced on April 20.
The upcoming event is expected to feature a refreshed iPhone lineup, potentially including an AI-powered Siri built on new architecture.
A foldable iPhone is also a key area of speculation, with analysts suggesting the device could support premium pricing and potentially expand margins.
Apple’s recent sales performance has provided additional support for the stock.
iPhone sales increased 21.7% in the latest quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter of growth above 20%. The company’s second-quarter results also exceeded market expectations, while its guidance for the following quarter was strong.
Apple’s stock has also shown favorable technical signals. The weekly RSI stands at 57.22, which remains in buy territory without indicating overbought conditions.
The weekly ADX is at 45.5, pointing to a strong established trend, while the weekly MACD stands at 10.77 and indicates positive momentum.
The daily RSI is 52.5, suggesting the stock has room to advance without appearing stretched based on that indicator.
However, the upcoming product launch could also create volatility. Apple has historically seen its shares rally ahead of major iPhone launches before consolidating or pulling back after the event.
The potential foldable iPhone could alter that pattern because it would represent a new product category rather than an incremental upgrade.
Still, Barclays has expressed skepticism about potential foldable volumes, while Jefferies has questioned whether premium pricing would be sustainable.
Separately, Apple has increased prices for its Apple TV streaming service in the US. The monthly subscription now costs $14.99, up from $12.99, while the annual plan increased to $119 from $99. The new prices apply to both new and existing customers.
Apple also raised the price of its individual Apple One bundle to $21.95 per month from $19.95. The bundle includes Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+.
The latest increase is Apple TV’s fourth price hike in four years. The service launched in 2019 at $4.99 per month and has since expanded its library to more than 300 original shows and movies.
Apple also announced new Mac mini models featuring M6 and M5 Pro chips, adding another product update to its hardware lineup ahead of the September event.
Bloomberg's Josh Wingrove breaks down the dissolution of US-Canada trade talks as Canadian leaders signal they do not expect a trade deal to take shape before the 2026 midterm elections. -------- Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube Weekdays 7am-6pm ET Saturday & Sunday 7am-10am ET WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/BloombergRadio Subscribe to our Podcasts: Bloomberg Daybreak: http://bit.ly/3DWYoAN Bloomberg Surveillance: http://bit.ly/3OPtReI Bloomberg Intelligence: http://bit.ly/3YrBfOi Balance of Power: http://bit.ly/3OO8eLC Bloomberg Businessweek: http://bit.ly/3IPl60i Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app: Apple CarPlay: https://apple.co/486mghI Android Auto: https://bit.ly/49benZy Visit our YouTube channels: Bloomberg Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/bloombergpodcasts Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake
Apple AAPL , the consumer-technology giant behind the iPhone, jumped to $312.12 before Monday's opening bell, defying a roughly 0.6% drop in Nasdaq futures. Reuters highlighted Apple and Amazon as the only major technology names trading higher as chip weakness, geopolitical tension and Nvidia's looming earnings report rattled the market.
The business is still firing. Apple's fiscal third-quarter revenue surged 16% to $109.4 billion, while diluted earnings shot up 29% to $2.02 per share. Gross margin hit 50.1%, helped by roughly two percentage points from tariff refunds. Better yet, Apple is producing that firepower without pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centers.
That discipline protects cash flow, but the stock already demands near-perfect execution. At $312.12, Apple trades 10.03% above its GF Value estimate of $283.67 and at roughly 35 times earnings. Investors are betting Apple can turn its enormous device ecosystem into an AI distribution machine. Now the company must deliver enough growth to defend that premium.
Apple is cutting jobs across its Vision Pro, Siri, and Intelligent Systems Experiences teams as it redirects resources toward new devices and artificial intelligence. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman explains where the reductions are happening and how Apple is reshaping its Siri operation around new AI infrastructure.
The upcoming iPhone cycle is one that will be watched closely by Wall Street. Tom White notes lasting memory chip shortages as something he sees leading to price hikes, something expected to hit consumer demand. Kevin Hincks points to Apple's hardware moat as something he believes will offer lasting strength for the company. Both Tom and Kevin offer their own example options trades for the Mag 7 stock.
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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.
Buy SK Hynix. The Apple–CXMT headline hasn’t delivered cheaper DRAM—CXMT reportedly quoted prices at/above Samsung and SKHY. That means no immediate margin shock, while SKHY still benefits from AI-driven memory demand and is priced cheaply (~6.5x forward earnings) with Street still at Strong Buy. Thesis: near-term fundamentals hold; the “Apple threat” is mostly noise until CXMT proves it can supply at a lower cost.
Key Risk: CXMT wins Apple qualification and ramps meaningful DRAM volumes at lower prices, forcing SKHY to lose share and pricing power.
Micron (MU) buy
Buy Micron. If Apple’s China sourcing fails to undercut incumbents, the market keeps paying for supply from the established ecosystem (SKHY/Samsung/MU). MU is a direct beneficiary of continued tight DRAM conditions and AI demand, and it should see less customer-concentration risk than SKHY if Apple diversifies slowly rather than abruptly.
Key Risk: Apple successfully shifts large DRAM demand to CXMT (or another cheaper supplier), tightening pricing pressure across the whole DRAM complex and hitting MU’s margins.
SK Hynix (SKHY) stock price retreat this morning is being attributed mostly to risk-off sentiment ahead of Nvidia’s earnings on August 26 and Samsung’s shareholder-return plan that disappointed investors.
But there’s another story hanging over the memory industry: Apple is reportedly exploring Chinese DRAM from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) as it searches for additional supply and potentially lower costs.
Including today’s decline, SK Hynix shares are down some 20% versus their year-to-date high.
Apple's reported interest in CXMT is significant because the iPhone maker is one of the world's largest buyers of memory, giving it considerable influence over suppliers such as SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron.
Reports indicate Apple has been testing CXMT's DRAM for potential use in devices, while also seeking more favorable pricing amid a global memory shortage.
US lawmakers have separately raised concerns about Apple's potential use of Chinese memory, highlighting the geopolitical complications surrounding the plan. Yet the immediate threat to SKHY stock may be less severe than the headlines suggest.
CXMT reportedly rejected Apple's request for cheaper DRAM and instead quoted prices comparable to, or even above, those offered by Samsung and SK Hynix.
That means Apple's China sourcing effort has not yet produced the price advantage it was seeking. In fact, the development could ultimately reinforce the pricing power of established suppliers if CXMT cannot undercut them.
Those invested in SK Hynix shares must still watch Apple’s search for alternative DRAM closely.
Why? Because even if CXMT can’t offer Apple a meaningful price discount, supply diversification itself has value in a tight memory market.
Apple does not necessarily need CXMT to be the cheapest supplier; securing another source of DRAM could help the giant reduce its reliance on the likes of SK Hynix at a time when memory availability remains constrained by strong AI-related demand.
That creates a potential headache for SKHY.
If Apple Inc eventually qualifies CXMT's chips for meaningful production volumes, some of the DRAM demand currently directed toward established suppliers will migrate to China. Plus, it may give the iPhone maker greater negotiating leverage in future pricing discussions.
In other words, CXMT doesn’t have to undercut SK Hynix Inc today to become a “longer-term” competitive threat.
For SKHY investors, the concern is therefore less about an immediate hit to earnings and more about the gradual erosion of its customer concentration, pricing power and share of the broader DRAM market.
On the flip side, however, investors should note that Wall Street remains bullish as ever on SKHY shares, especially since they’re trading at a rather attractive 6.5x forward earnings.
The consensus rating on SK Hynix remains at Strong Buy – with the mean price target of roughly $245 indicating potential upside of about 70% from here.
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.
Arista Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,838 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.2% of Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total value of $442,478.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,668 shares in the company, valued at $11,890,023.32. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple 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 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. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,994 shares of company stock worth $919,567. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Performance NASDAQ AAPL opened at $309.35 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.69 and a 12-month high of $344.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.16. 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 $4.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 13th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. China Renaissance lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price target 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 given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.53.
Get Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Key Stories Impacting Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to reassess Apple’s research-and-development budget and potentially increase spending on AI. Analysts see stronger investment in Siri and other AI products as a way to close the gap with technology rivals. Apple Could Get a New R&D and AI Budget Positive Sentiment: Potential product catalysts include an AI-enhanced Siri expected later this year, camera-equipped AI AirPods targeted for 2027 and a foldable iPhone that one analyst estimates could sell 14 million units by 2027. Successful launches could support a major upgrade cycle. Apple Wants to Pay Publishers to Improve Siri Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s nationwide rollout of contactless payments will add Apple Pay acceptance across its U.S. stores, websites and apps. The move expands Apple Pay’s reach and strengthens Apple’s services ecosystem. Walmart Adds Apple Pay Nationwide Neutral Sentiment: Options activity showed a modestly bullish bias, with calls outnumbering puts, while implied volatility remained below its 52-week median. However, the signal was not strong enough to establish a decisive near-term direction. Apple Options Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s leadership change on September 1 is creating both opportunity and uncertainty. Bank of America maintains a Buy view but says Ternus must deliver more surprising products and technologies because the company has become increasingly predictable. Apple Must Relearn How to Surprise Negative Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut more than 200 positions tied to Siri and the Vision Pro headset while redirecting resources toward future devices. The restructuring may improve efficiency, but it also highlights execution challenges in AI and spatial computing. Negative Sentiment: Analysts have warned that Apple’s insulation from macroeconomic and competitive headwinds is fading. With shares trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may be less tolerant of slower growth, regulatory pressure and delays in AI products. Apple’s Immunity to Headwinds Is Fading Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is quietly shifting attention toward China add geopolitical and demand risk, while its substantial tax settlement and filings highlighting large profits routed through Ireland could renew regulatory scrutiny. Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small and does not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals, but it provides a modest negative headline. 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.
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Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,929 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.6% of Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $57,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Trending Headlines about Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to reassess Apple’s research-and-development budget and potentially increase spending on AI. Analysts see stronger investment in Siri and other AI products as a way to close the gap with technology rivals. Apple Could Get a New R&D and AI Budget Positive Sentiment: Potential product catalysts include an AI-enhanced Siri expected later this year, camera-equipped AI AirPods targeted for 2027 and a foldable iPhone that one analyst estimates could sell 14 million units by 2027. Successful launches could support a major upgrade cycle. Apple Wants to Pay Publishers to Improve Siri Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s nationwide rollout of contactless payments will add Apple Pay acceptance across its U.S. stores, websites and apps. The move expands Apple Pay’s reach and strengthens Apple’s services ecosystem. Walmart Adds Apple Pay Nationwide Neutral Sentiment: Options activity showed a modestly bullish bias, with calls outnumbering puts, while implied volatility remained below its 52-week median. However, the signal was not strong enough to establish a decisive near-term direction. Apple Options Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s leadership change on September 1 is creating both opportunity and uncertainty. Bank of America maintains a Buy view but says Ternus must deliver more surprising products and technologies because the company has become increasingly predictable. Apple Must Relearn How to Surprise Negative Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut more than 200 positions tied to Siri and the Vision Pro headset while redirecting resources toward future devices. The restructuring may improve efficiency, but it also highlights execution challenges in AI and spatial computing. Negative Sentiment: Analysts have warned that Apple’s insulation from macroeconomic and competitive headwinds is fading. With shares trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may be less tolerant of slower growth, regulatory pressure and delays in AI products. Apple’s Immunity to Headwinds Is Fading Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is quietly shifting attention toward China add geopolitical and demand risk, while its substantial tax settlement and filings highlighting large profits routed through Ireland could renew regulatory scrutiny. Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small and does not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals, but it provides a modest negative headline. Insider Buying and Selling at Apple In related news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total value of $442,478.11. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,890,023.32. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,994 shares of company stock worth $919,567. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Weiss Ratings raised Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $364.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.53.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Apple
Apple Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $309.35 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $310.63 and its 200 day moving average is $287.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.69 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.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.39%.
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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First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,904 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.7% of First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ holdings in Apple were worth $18,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,662 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,821,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Lexington Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lexington Hill Partners LLC now owns 22,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 109,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,771,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ledgewood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,490 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Point Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,416 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $285.56 to $263.66 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.53.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AAPL Apple Price Performance Apple stock opened at $309.35 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.16. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $224.69 and a one year high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.
Insider Activity In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total transaction of $442,478.11. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 38,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,890,023.32. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,994 shares of company stock worth $919,567. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Apple News Summary Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to reassess Apple’s research-and-development budget and potentially increase spending on AI. Analysts see stronger investment in Siri and other AI products as a way to close the gap with technology rivals. Apple Could Get a New R&D and AI Budget Positive Sentiment: Potential product catalysts include an AI-enhanced Siri expected later this year, camera-equipped AI AirPods targeted for 2027 and a foldable iPhone that one analyst estimates could sell 14 million units by 2027. Successful launches could support a major upgrade cycle. Apple Wants to Pay Publishers to Improve Siri Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s nationwide rollout of contactless payments will add Apple Pay acceptance across its U.S. stores, websites and apps. The move expands Apple Pay’s reach and strengthens Apple’s services ecosystem. Walmart Adds Apple Pay Nationwide Neutral Sentiment: Options activity showed a modestly bullish bias, with calls outnumbering puts, while implied volatility remained below its 52-week median. However, the signal was not strong enough to establish a decisive near-term direction. Apple Options Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s leadership change on September 1 is creating both opportunity and uncertainty. Bank of America maintains a Buy view but says Ternus must deliver more surprising products and technologies because the company has become increasingly predictable. Apple Must Relearn How to Surprise Negative Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut more than 200 positions tied to Siri and the Vision Pro headset while redirecting resources toward future devices. The restructuring may improve efficiency, but it also highlights execution challenges in AI and spatial computing. Negative Sentiment: Analysts have warned that Apple’s insulation from macroeconomic and competitive headwinds is fading. With shares trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may be less tolerant of slower growth, regulatory pressure and delays in AI products. Apple’s Immunity to Headwinds Is Fading Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is quietly shifting attention toward China add geopolitical and demand risk, while its substantial tax settlement and filings highlighting large profits routed through Ireland could renew regulatory scrutiny. Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small and does not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals, but it provides a modest negative headline. 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.
Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple VIG, VYM, and VYMI: Which Vanguard Dividend ETF Is Right for You? 3 Closed-End Funds to Maximize Dividend Payments Rocket Lab’s Sell-Off Is Fading—Is It Finally Safe to Buy? $27 Billion in Buybacks: 3 Stocks Betting Their Strong Runs Aren’t Over 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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Avity Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 16.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 260,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 51,742 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.8% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $75,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,014 shares during the period. Eaton Cambridge Inc. raised its position in Apple by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 108.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after buying an additional 18,188 shares during the period. Finally, Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to reassess Apple’s research-and-development budget and potentially increase spending on AI. Analysts see stronger investment in Siri and other AI products as a way to close the gap with technology rivals. Apple Could Get a New R&D and AI Budget Positive Sentiment: Potential product catalysts include an AI-enhanced Siri expected later this year, camera-equipped AI AirPods targeted for 2027 and a foldable iPhone that one analyst estimates could sell 14 million units by 2027. Successful launches could support a major upgrade cycle. Apple Wants to Pay Publishers to Improve Siri Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s nationwide rollout of contactless payments will add Apple Pay acceptance across its U.S. stores, websites and apps. The move expands Apple Pay’s reach and strengthens Apple’s services ecosystem. Walmart Adds Apple Pay Nationwide Neutral Sentiment: Options activity showed a modestly bullish bias, with calls outnumbering puts, while implied volatility remained below its 52-week median. However, the signal was not strong enough to establish a decisive near-term direction. Apple Options Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s leadership change on September 1 is creating both opportunity and uncertainty. Bank of America maintains a Buy view but says Ternus must deliver more surprising products and technologies because the company has become increasingly predictable. Apple Must Relearn How to Surprise Negative Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut more than 200 positions tied to Siri and the Vision Pro headset while redirecting resources toward future devices. The restructuring may improve efficiency, but it also highlights execution challenges in AI and spatial computing. Negative Sentiment: Analysts have warned that Apple’s insulation from macroeconomic and competitive headwinds is fading. With shares trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may be less tolerant of slower growth, regulatory pressure and delays in AI products. Apple’s Immunity to Headwinds Is Fading Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is quietly shifting attention toward China add geopolitical and demand risk, while its substantial tax settlement and filings highlighting large profits routed through Ireland could renew regulatory scrutiny. Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small and does not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals, but it provides a modest negative headline. Apple Stock Performance AAPL opened at $309.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $344.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $310.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.16. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company 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 for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 target price (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.53.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Insiders Place Their Bets In related 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 in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total transaction of $442,478.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,668 shares in the company, valued at $11,890,023.32. The trade was a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,994 shares of company stock valued at $919,567. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.
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Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,486 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.7% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 18,330 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,304,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP increased its position in Apple by 4.4% in the second quarter. Beacon Financial Strategies CORP now owns 2,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Williams & Novak LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 12,792 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. Kwmg LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 22,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,596,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Victrix Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the second quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 41,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,948,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Performance AAPL opened at $309.35 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $310.63 and its 200 day moving average is $287.04. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.69 and a 12-month high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current year. Apple Announces Dividend The firm 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $345.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $276.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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 issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.53.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AAPL
Key Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: Incoming CEO John Ternus is expected to reassess Apple’s research-and-development budget and potentially increase spending on AI. Analysts see stronger investment in Siri and other AI products as a way to close the gap with technology rivals. Apple Could Get a New R&D and AI Budget Positive Sentiment: Potential product catalysts include an AI-enhanced Siri expected later this year, camera-equipped AI AirPods targeted for 2027 and a foldable iPhone that one analyst estimates could sell 14 million units by 2027. Successful launches could support a major upgrade cycle. Apple Wants to Pay Publishers to Improve Siri Positive Sentiment: Walmart’s nationwide rollout of contactless payments will add Apple Pay acceptance across its U.S. stores, websites and apps. The move expands Apple Pay’s reach and strengthens Apple’s services ecosystem. Walmart Adds Apple Pay Nationwide Neutral Sentiment: Options activity showed a modestly bullish bias, with calls outnumbering puts, while implied volatility remained below its 52-week median. However, the signal was not strong enough to establish a decisive near-term direction. Apple Options Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s leadership change on September 1 is creating both opportunity and uncertainty. Bank of America maintains a Buy view but says Ternus must deliver more surprising products and technologies because the company has become increasingly predictable. Apple Must Relearn How to Surprise Negative Sentiment: Apple reportedly cut more than 200 positions tied to Siri and the Vision Pro headset while redirecting resources toward future devices. The restructuring may improve efficiency, but it also highlights execution challenges in AI and spatial computing. Negative Sentiment: Analysts have warned that Apple’s insulation from macroeconomic and competitive headwinds is fading. With shares trading at a high earnings multiple, investors may be less tolerant of slower growth, regulatory pressure and delays in AI products. Apple’s Immunity to Headwinds Is Fading Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple is quietly shifting attention toward China add geopolitical and demand risk, while its substantial tax settlement and filings highlighting large profits routed through Ireland could renew regulatory scrutiny. Negative Sentiment: Senior Vice President Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is relatively small and does not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals, but it provides a modest negative headline. Insider Activity In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.49, for a total transaction of $442,478.11. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,890,023.32. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 2,994 shares of company stock worth $919,567 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
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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