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Apple (AAPL) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Apple (AAPL - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $218.75, moving -1.94% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.07%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.22%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 10.58% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 5.05%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.58%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.83, down 2.65% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $62.55 billion, down 0.56% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.68 per share and revenue of $258.28 billion. These totals would mark changes of -1.89% and -2.76%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL. 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.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.89% higher. AAPL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AAPL has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.09 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.27, which means AAPL is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that AAPL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.85. 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. Computer - Mini computers stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.85 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 62, which puts it in the top 25% 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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