What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for Apple FY2026 Earnings?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Apple in a research report issued on Thursday, May 22nd. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now anticipates that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $7.58 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $7.85. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $195.27 on Monday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.