After a blockbuster quarterly earnings, Apple (AAPL) has declared a massive $100 billion additional share buyback program. This indicates the tech giant's financial stability, as it stands at an important juncture of accelerating its artificial intelligence (AI) operations and is set to undergo a massive leadership change. The company also increased its dividend by 4% to $0.27 per share (translating to an annual dividend rate of $1.08 that yields 0.38% on current prices), payable to shareholders on May 14. Therefore, Apple’s stock might be the one to watch out for now.
About Apple Stock
This tech behemoth needs little introduction. Apple designs, manufactures, and markets consumer electronics, software, and digital services globally. Operations span hardware such as iPhones, Macs, iPads, wearables, and accessories, as well as services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud.
The company advances AI with Apple Intelligence, enhancing Siri, creating Genmoji, generating images, and improving writing tools on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, all with a strong privacy focus. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple has a massive market capitalization of $4.22 trillion.
Facing a growing demand for its iPhone products, especially the iPhone 17 series, as well as rising Services revenue and Mac sales, Apple’s stock has been holding strong on Wall Street. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has gained 46.48%, while it is up only 5.74% year-to-date (YTD), as tariff pressures have taken a toll and investors have become a bit skeptical of AI. It last reached a 52-week high of $288.62 in December 2025, and is currently trading marginally close to that level.
Apple's forward-adjusted price-to-sales ratio is 8.84 times, well above the industry average of 3.28 times.
What Is Happening with Apple Now?
After 15 years at the helm of Apple, during which the market cap increased by more than 20-fold, Tim Cook is set to step down as CEO in September. John Ternus, a senior vice president of hardware engineering, is set to take over as CEO after Cook steps down. But as Apple navigates this leadership change, it is facing a tricky supply chain situation, including a memory crunch driven by explosive demand for AI chips.
To address the memory crunch, Apple is exploring a “range of options,” which might include pursuing longer-term supply agreements. In any case, Ternus will face the challenge of turning Apple into a more AI-focused company. The road to building in-house chips is also in the making. The company promoted Johny Srouji to the new role of chief hardware officer, which is the latest step in making all of its chips for iPhones, Macs, AirPods and more in-house.
Amid this, as Apple realized heightened demand for its iPhone 17 series of products, the company reported its best March quarter. For the second quarter of fiscal 2026, it reported better-than-expected results. The company’s revenue increased 16.6% year-over-year (YOY) to $111.18 billion, driven by iPhone sales that grew 21.7% YOY to $56.99 billion. Apple’s quarterly EPS grew 21.8% YOY to $2.01.
Wall Street analysts are robustly optimistic about Apple’s future earnings. For the current fiscal year, EPS is projected to surge 17% annually to $8.73, followed by a 9.2% growth to $9.53 in the next fiscal year. Analysts also expect the company’s EPS to grow by 18.5% YOY to $1.86 for the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
Here’s What Analysts Think About Apple’s Stock
Post Apple’s solid Q2 earnings, multiple analysts have reiterated their stances on Wall Street’s longtime darling. Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers maintained an “Overweight” rating on the stock and raised the price target to $310 from $300. Analysts at the firm cited the company’s solid results and better-than-expected guidance, particularly for revenue and gross margin.
TD Cowen analysts also raised Apple’s stock price target from $325 to $335, while maintaining a bullish “Buy” rating, citing the company’s solid 14% to 17% YOY revenue guidance for the June quarter, which was higher than the Street’s expectations. Analysts at the firm also believe that Apple has the option to increase future product prices and use its balance sheet strategically.
Wedbush analysts have expressed their bullish view of Apple following its earnings. They stated that the company has had a “great job navigating a very complex tariff situation and memory pricing headwinds so far in FY26.” Wedbush maintained an “Outperform” rating and a $350 Street-high price target.
Apple has long been a popular name on Wall Street, with analysts awarding it a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Of the 42 analysts rating the stock, 23 have given it a “Strong Buy” rating, three a “Moderate Buy,” 15 a “Hold,” and one a “Strong Sell.” The consensus price target of $301.19 represents a 5% upside from current levels. Moreover, the Street-high Wedbush-given price target of $350 implies a 22% upside.
On the date of publication, Anushka Dutta did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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