Zacks Research Has Bearish Outlook for Apple FY2025 Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Zacks Research cut their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Apple in a report issued on Thursday, February 20th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings of $7.18 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $7.24. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Apple’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.81 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.98 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.84 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.07 EPS.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $247.04 on Monday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $240.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.