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Apple (AAPL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Apple (AAPL - Free Report) closed at $227.26, marking a +0.7% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.36%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.73%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.11%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 0.32% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 0.17%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.73%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be November 1, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.77, up 33.82% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $61.40 billion, up 16.77% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.76 per share and revenue of $264.06 billion. These totals would mark changes of +27.69% and +15.19%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.66% higher within the past month. AAPL is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

In terms of valuation, AAPL is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.19. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.42.

Investors should also note that AAPL has a PEG ratio of 1.99 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Computer - Mini computers was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.99 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 4, putting it in the top 2% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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