Apple (AAPL) closed at $130.89 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.62% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.23%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.03%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.43%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 0.72% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 4.19% and the S&P 500’s gain of 3.86% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect AAPL to post earnings of $1.39 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 11.2%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $102.61 billion, up 11.75% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.03 per share and revenue of $320.73 billion. These totals would mark changes of +22.87% and +16.83%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.29% higher. AAPL is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AAPL has a Forward P/E ratio of 32 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 21.88, so we one might conclude that AAPL is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that AAPL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.78. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Computer – Mini computers was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.29 at yesterday’s closing price.
The Computer – Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 19, which puts it in the top 8% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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