Erste Group Bank Brokers Lift Earnings Estimates for Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Apple in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $8.85 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.84. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $8.74 per share.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. KGI Securities cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.61.

Apple Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $325.13 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a 12-month low of $225.95 and a 12-month 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during 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 period. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,950,297,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider 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 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. Insiders sold 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.39%.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: John Ternus takes over with an encouraging product message: The longtime hardware engineering chief officially became CEO, while Tim Cook remains as executive chairman. Ternus reportedly told employees that a “huge” and “phenomenal” iPhone launch is coming next week, supporting expectations for strong product momentum and potential interest in a foldable iPhone. John Ternus hypes huge launch next week in first memo as Apple CEO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is providing additional support: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target, citing an opportunity for Apple to achieve “device dominance” in the AI era. Rosenblatt also raised its target to $303, though it maintained a Neutral rating, underscoring the mixed outlook at current prices. Bank of America sees device dominance ahead
• Positive Sentiment: Services and Mac demand remain potential growth catalysts: Apple’s price increases for Apple TV and Apple One highlight ecosystem pricing power and could lift high-margin services revenue. Separately, reported shortages of high-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio models suggest developers and businesses may be using Apple Silicon for local AI workloads. Cook out, Silicon in: Will Ternus trigger Apple’s edge AI boom?
• Neutral Sentiment: Continuity may reduce transition risk: Cook’s $47 million compensation package as executive chair signals that he will remain influential, including on government and strategic matters. However, Ternus must establish authority while succeeding a CEO whose tenure produced extraordinary shareholder returns. Tim Cook to be paid $47 million as Apple’s executive chair
• Negative Sentiment: Key risks remain concentrated in AI, costs and valuation: Apple is still viewed as behind rivals in AI and faces pressure to improve Siri. Memory shortages could weigh on hardware margins, while shares trade near record levels at roughly 37 times earnings. Apple also faces an escalating trade-secret lawsuit with OpenAI, which has called the claims baseless. Apple enters John Ternus era as AI challenges and memory crunch intensify

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.