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

In the latest trading session, Apple (AAPL) closed at $158.15, marking a -1.31% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.17% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.6%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.67%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 9.23% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 8.4%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.25%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Apple as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Apple to post earnings of $1.44 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 5.26%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $93.39 billion, down 4% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.04 per share and revenue of $390.02 billion. These totals would mark changes of -1.15% and -1.09%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Apple. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% lower within the past month. Apple is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Apple is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 26.52. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.54, which means Apple is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that AAPL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.12. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. AAPL’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.61 as of yesterday’s close.

The Computer – Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, putting it in the top 39% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research