Erste Group Bank Issues Positive Estimate for Apple Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 EPS estimates for Apple in a report issued on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the iPhone maker will post earnings of $8.75 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast 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.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AAPL. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.43.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $333.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.10. Apple has a 1-year low of $201.50 and a 1-year high of $334.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $303.61 and a 200-day moving average of $277.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evansbrook LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the first 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 during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

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.