Research Analysts Set Expectations for Apple FY2026 Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Apple in a report released on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $8.75 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.74. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $8.76 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Apple’s FY2027 earnings at $9.56 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, KGI Securities downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.43.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $333.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.09. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $201.50 and a fifty-two week high of $334.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 40,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,637,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Lee Kelleher & Klein Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lee Kelleher & Klein Wealth Management now owns 1,638 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 108,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,299,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. GoalFusion Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter. GoalFusion Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,014 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Finally, Buska Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,959 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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 transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC upgraded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy and raised its price target to $366 from $260, saying the company is at an operational turning point with AI features and hardware momentum supporting growth. HSBC upgrades Apple to Buy, sees “strong cycle ahead”
• Positive Sentiment: China approved Apple Intelligence for iPhones, and Apple will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI model in its China rollout, a key step that could expand Apple’s AI adoption in one of its most important markets. Alibaba and Baidu shares jump in Hong Kong on Apple AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports say Apple briefly overtook Nvidia in market value, reinforcing the view that investors are rotating toward Apple’s consumer execution and away from some AI-heavy names. Apple closes in on Nvidia in race for world’s most valuable company
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries highlighted Apple’s cash generation, shareholder returns, and robotics/innovation efforts, supporting the bullish “cash flow machine” and diversification narrative. Apple’s Core Business Cash Flow Machine Will Support Innovation and Diversification

About Apple

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.