Wedbush Issues Optimistic Forecast for Apple Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Stock analysts at Wedbush boosted their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Apple in a research report issued on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings of $2.43 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.41. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.45 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apple’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.69 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.53 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.78 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.45 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.64 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.88 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.73 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.04 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.30 EPS.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $223.45 on Monday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $226.98 and a 200-day moving average of $213.44.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.