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Can Strong Content Portfolio Drive Apple's Streaming Prospects?

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Key Takeaways

  • Apple TV+ earned 81 Emmy nominations across 14 titles, including Severance and The Studio
  • F1: The Movie grossed over $500M globally, adding streaming and video-on-demand revenue potential.
  • Services sales rose 13.3% to $27.42B, with double-digit growth in both paid accounts and subscriptions.

Apple's (AAPL - Free Report) streaming business, Apple TV+, is benefiting from a strong content portfolio. The service has benefited from the success of Murderbot, Severance season 2, Mythic Quest season 4, among other shows. Apple has a strong lineup of content, including a new season of Slow Horses and The Morning Show, respectively, along with new shows, including Pluribus. Movie slate includes Highest 2 Lowest, The Lost Bus and F1 The Movie, per report from 9TO5Mac.

The success of titles like Severance has been a phenomenon for Apple TV+’s prospects. Severance scored 27 nominations at this year’s Emmy Awards, while The Studio made history as the most-nominated freshman comedy series with 23 nominations in total. Apple TV+ achieved a record-breaking 81 Emmy nominations this year, spanning 14 original titles. 

Apple’s original film F1: The Movie grossed more than $500 million worldwide and is expected to generate additional revenues through streaming and video-on-demand releases. 

Revenues from Apple TV+ are reported under Apple’s Services business, which accounted for 29.2% of third-quarter fiscal 2025 sales. Services revenues grew 13.3% year over year to $27.42 billion, with both paid accounts and paid subscriptions growing double digits year over year. Apple TV+ viewership soared double-digit year over year in the fiscal third quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Services sales is pegged at $28.04 billion, indicating a 12.3% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Apple Faces Tough Competition in Streaming Market

AAPL is facing stiff competition from the likes of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) in the streaming space. According to JustWatch’s data, Apple TV+ market share in the United States went from 7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 8% in the first quarter of 2025. However, it was minuscule compared with Amazon and Netflix. Amazon Prime Video led with 21% market share, trailed by Netflix at 20%.

Netflix is benefiting from its growing subscriber base, thanks to a robust localized and foreign-language content portfolio and healthy engagement levels with about two hours of viewing per member per day, indicating strong member retention.

Amazon’s advertising business hit a milestone in the second quarter of 2025, capturing 9.36% of the company’s total revenues. Revenues rose 23% year over year to $15.69 billion. The global rollout of Prime Video ads adds a high-value, premium channel that could further Amazon’s ad revenues. Live sports like the NFL, NASCAR, and NBA deepen engagement, driving further growth.

AAPL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Apple shares have dropped 9.8% year to date, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s return of 12.6%.

Apple Stock’s Performance

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

The AAPL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month Price/Earnings of 29.24X compared with the broader sector’s 27.65X. AAPL has a Value Score of F.

 

AAPL Valuation

 

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.35 per share, up 3.4% over the past 30 days, suggesting 8.9% year-over-year growth.

 

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

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

Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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