FY2027 EPS Estimates for Apple Decreased by Erste Group Bank

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Research analysts at Erste Group Bank cut their FY2027 earnings estimates for Apple in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the iPhone maker will earn $9.32 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $9.34. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.58.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $252.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $260.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.40. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856,752 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple will open Siri to outside AI assistants (e.g., Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude), ending its exclusive ChatGPT tie — a strategic pivot that leverages the iPhone as an AI distribution platform without the capital intensity of building the largest models in-house. This could widen user choice, boost engagement with iOS services, and help Apple monetize AI through ecosystem stickiness. Reuters: Apple plans to open Siri to rival AI services
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is adding Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity to its American Manufacturing Program and committing ~$400M through 2030 to expand U.S. parts production — a move that reduces geopolitical/supply risk, supports higher-margin domestic sourcing, and benefits listed suppliers (notably Cirrus Logic). That should be received positively by investors focused on supply resiliency and margin protection. Reuters: Apple adds Bosch, Cirrus Logic, others to US manufacturing program
• Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo (Apple’s new lower-priced laptop) and other product moves aim to expand Apple’s addressable market (students/value buyers), potentially increasing device volume and accelerating ecosystem adoption that supports higher-margin services revenue over time. Yahoo Finance: Who is the target consumer for Apple’s MacBook Neo?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is rolling out age-verification features in the U.K. to comply with regulator pressure — a compliance cost and UX change that could modestly affect services usage patterns but mostly addresses regulatory risk. FT: Apple rolls out UK age checks for iPhone users
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and survey notes point to stronger iPhone loyalty and growing enterprise deployments — supportive for services growth but already reflected to some extent in valuation assumptions. This is incremental positive for installed base dynamics but not a near-term catalyst by itself. ProactiveInvestors: iPhone loyalty strengthens
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and abandoned future updates may weigh on high-end Mac revenue and signal product-line consolidation risks; investors should watch for confirmation and management commentary to assess the revenue and margin impact. MSN: Apple reportedly discontinues Mac Pro

Apple Company Profile

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.