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Apple (AAPL) Suffers a Larger Drop Than the General Market: Key Insights

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The most recent trading session ended with Apple (AAPL - Free Report) standing at $168.45, reflecting a -0.67% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.04% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.03%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.03%.

Shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products have depreciated by 0.67% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.57%.

The upcoming earnings release of Apple will be of great interest to investors. In that report, analysts expect Apple to post earnings of $1.50 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 1.32%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $90.38 billion, down 4.7% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $6.55 per share and a revenue of $385.52 billion, demonstrating changes of +6.85% and +0.58%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Apple. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.01% upward. Currently, Apple is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Apple is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.9. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.24, so one might conclude that Apple is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that AAPL has a PEG ratio of 2.04 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The Computer - Mini computers industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.04 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 241, positioning it in the bottom 5% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. 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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