Wedbush Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Equities researchers at Wedbush lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Apple in a research note issued on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $2.62 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.44. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apple’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.80 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.71 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.96 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $8.12 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.98 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.97 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.86 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.20 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $8.99 EPS.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Melius boosted their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $279.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $269.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.