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Apple (AAPL) Unveils Trailer of For All Mankind Season 4

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Apple (AAPL - Free Report) recently unveiled season four of the space drama, For All Mankind, at New York Comic Con. The iPhone maker is set to launch the latest season beginning Nov 10 on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday through Jan 12, 2024.

Apple TV+, despite having fewer subscribers than Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) , has been gaining recognition due to its impressive content portfolio that includes shows like Ted Lasso. Its animated movie, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film this year. Last year, Apple won three Academy Awards for CODA.

Apple’s impressive run at the Academy Awards has been instrumental in driving the recognition of Apple TV+ in the saturated streaming market currently dominated by the likes of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Netflix and Disney+.

Per the latest report from JustWatch, cited by 9TO5, Apple TV+’s market share increased 1% to 7% for the January-September 2023 period. Amazon Prime Video maintained its #1 position with 22%, trailed by Netflix’s 21%. Disney+ lost 1% to 12%, grabbing the #4 spot.

Apple TV+ has been benefiting from an expanding content portfolio. Its upcoming World War II drama, Masters of the Air, follows the true story of an American bomber group. The series is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. These three were also involved in the production of Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Apple TV+ Expanding Content to Boost Prospects

Apple shares have outperformed Netflix and Disney but underperformed Amazon. Apple shares have returned 39.1%, while Amazon and Netflix shares have returned 57.1% and 22.6%, respectively. Disney shares have declined 2.9% year to date.

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote

Apple is expanding its footprint in the entertainment industry with plans to spend $1 billion on producing movies, per Bloomberg. The iPhone maker partnered with Paramount for the distribution of its upcoming movie, Killers of the Flower Moon.

The growing popularity of Apple TV+, as well as services like Apple News and Fitness+, has been beneficial for Apple’s Services business, which has become a major revenue generator lately.

The Services portfolio currently has more than 1 billion paid subscribers and accounted for 25.9% of sales in the fiscal third quarter. Apple’s Services revenues increased 8.2% from the year-ago quarter to $21.21 billion.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company expects iPhone and Services’ year-over-year performance to accelerate from the June quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 revenues for the Services segment is pegged at $21.33 billion, indicating 11.2% year-over-year growth.

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