FY2027 EPS Estimates for Apple Decreased by Erste Group Bank
by Michael Walen · The Markets DailyApple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) – Equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank reduced their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Apple in a report issued on Thursday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $9.31 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $9.32. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share.
Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.23.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Apple Trading Down 2.1%
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $253.50 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $260.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.76. The company has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. Apple’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 EPS.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,266,468,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total value of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.15%.
Apple News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Apple joined industry AI/cybersecurity initiatives (Project Glasswing), partnering with Anthropic, Broadcom, Microsoft, Amazon and others — a signal that Apple is deepening enterprise and AI-security ties that could boost enterprise adoption and strengthen its AI roadmap. Anthropic Teams With Apple, Microsoft And Nvidia To Test Latest Cybersecurity Tech
- Positive Sentiment: Hardware demand remains robust — recent reports highlight record iPhone sales and strong iPhone 17 demand, supporting revenue and margins and underpinning services growth that cushions the business when device timelines slip. Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone Sales Continue to Surge Worldwide
- Positive Sentiment: Product strategy diversification: analysts point to MacBook Neo (budget laptop) and Mac Mini demand as incremental growth drivers — Bank of America highlights the Neo as a market-expanding catalyst that could strengthen Apple’s ecosystem and recurring revenue funnel. Apple MacBook Neo could expand market reach, says Bank of America
- Neutral Sentiment: Market sentiment indicator: traders on crypto prediction market Polymarket are betting Apple will trade above $250 by April 30 — a short-term sentiment data point that suggests trader confidence but has limited predictive power for fundamentals. Crypto markets predict Apple’s (AAPL) stock price for April 30, 2026
- Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street views mixed: some firms (Evercore) remain constructive while others (UBS) stay neutral as App Store growth moderates — analyst commentary is keeping volatility high but hasn’t produced a clear consensus shift. Wall Street analyst updates Apple (AAPL) stock price
- Negative Sentiment: Foldable iPhone engineering snags: multiple reports (Nikkei/Reuters coverage) say Apple has encountered hinge and screen durability issues that could delay mass production — that removes a potential near-term hardware catalyst and triggered the largest negative reaction today. Apple’s foldable iPhone encounters engineering snags, faces potential shipment delays
- Negative Sentiment: China legal/regulatory hit: a ruling upholding local AI patents against Apple (Xiao‑I) raises the risk of injunctions, licensing costs or product feature limits in China — a material regional headwind given the market’s importance. Xiao-I (AIXI) Stock Explodes Over 500% Following Major Chinese Supreme Court Victory Against Apple
Apple Company Profile
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.