Zacks Research Issues Optimistic Estimate for Apple Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Apple in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 30th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $2.32 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.30. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Apple’s Q1 2027 earnings at $2.40 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.00 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $8.59 EPS.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.94.

Apple Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $207.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,412,673 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $905,348,000 after purchasing an additional 142,381 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 12.3% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 92,256 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,928,000 after buying an additional 10,138 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the second quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 33,149 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the second quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC now owns 18,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,822,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 28.7% in the second quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 33,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,935,000 after acquiring an additional 7,435 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company Profile

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.