Apple shares are up 27% in 2026, the biggest contributor to the S&P 500's 13% gain, and investors increasingly treat the stock as a hedge against AI swings. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta have seen free cash flow plummet as they spend heavily on AI infrastructure, while Apple has an increasingly negative correlation with chipmakers; last week the SOX fell more than 11% while Apple rose 2%. Revenue is expected to grow about 15% this year, slowing to 9.7% in fiscal 2027 and 5.5% in fiscal 2028, while the stock trades at 36 times 12-month estimated earnings, its highest since January 2008 and twice Nvidia's valuation. BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky said a SOX bounce would likely coincide with AAPL pulling back toward its 50-day moving average, 4.7% below the latest close, and Russell Investments' Jordan McCall said 'risk on for AI would mean risk off for Apple.'
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
Appleartificial intelligencesemiconductorsvaluation
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
AAPL
▲ Likely positiveApple Inc.
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals |
| Market cap | $5.0T |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 343.99 |
| Change that session | +1.32% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Apple vs. SK hynix: Which Tech Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
The article compares Apple (AAPL) and SK Hynix (SKHY). Apple sells consumer hardware such as the iPhone and Mac alongside a high-margin Services segment, while SK Hynix makes DRAM and NAND memory chips for data centers and AI processing in a cyclical market. On a trailing-12-month basis through Q2 2026, Apple reported revenue of $466 billion, up about 14%, net income of roughly $129 billion, free cash flow of nearly $137 billion, and a debt-to-equity ratio near 0.8x. SK Hynix reported TTM revenue of about $129 billion, more than double the prior-year period, net income of nearly $109 billion, free cash flow of about $60 billion, and a debt-to-equity ratio around 0.1x. The article says SK Hynix looks much cheaper but carries greater cyclical risk, and the author says he would rather buy Apple heading into 2027, noting Apple trades at 35 times forward earnings estimates.
- Should You Be Worried About Apple Stock?
Apple stock returned 35.1% over the past year versus 17.1% for the S&P 500, but the article says the main pressure now is cost. Management said memory chip prices have risen sharply, calling it a '100-year flood,' and expects higher memory costs in the September quarter. Gross margin still reached 50.1% in fiscal Q3 2026, up from 46.5% a year earlier, though guidance for the September quarter is 47% to 48%, including about one point from tariff refunds. Demand is strong: products brought in $78.7 billion of the $109.4 billion in revenue, and iPhone and Mac sales ran ahead of plan. Apple trades at 38.6 times earnings versus 23.0 for the S&P 500, so the article calls gross margin the key figure to watch in the next report.
- Apple vs. ASML: Which Tech Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?
Apple reported fiscal 2025 revenue of nearly $416.2 billion, up about 6.4%, and net income near $112 billion, a 26.9% net margin. ASML reported revenue of nearly $36.8 billion, up 15.6%, with net income of $10.8 billion and a margin of roughly 29.4%. Apple’s free cash flow reached about $98.8 billion, while ASML produced about $12.5 billion. Apple faces antitrust litigation, including a 2024 DOJ lawsuit, and reliance on single-source suppliers in Asia, while ASML’s cyclical industry and export restrictions pose risks. The article says Apple appears more attractive on its sales multiple, though both trade at similar premiums to future earnings, and the author, a longtime Apple shareholder, says he finds ASML’s industry position extremely appealing.
- Apple iPhone prices quadrupled since 2008 . Here why
Apple's first foldable, the iPhone Duo, opens pre-orders today ahead of its Oct. 23 release, with prices from $1,999 to $3,199 depending on storage. It is Apple's most expensive iPhone since the first models launched in 2007. Base-model prices have quadrupled from $199 for the 2008 iPhone 3G to $799 for the iPhone 17, and Apple raised prices on new and older iPhones by $100 as AI-related inflation pushed up supply costs. The article links the rise to a global memory chip shortage driven by AI data center demand, which also led Apple to raise Mac and iPad prices in June. Former CEO Tim Cook warned that these supply constraints will likely not go away any time soon.
- Prediction: Apple Will Soar After Oct. 28
Apple shares are up 26% this year, making it the best performer among the 'Magnificent Seven' tech stocks as investors who worried about AI-dependent companies returned to it. The article notes Apple was slow to add AI features but credits its brand strength and strong earnings record. John Ternus became CEO on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook, who led the company for 15 years; Ternus previously was senior vice president of hardware engineering. Analysts expect an Oct. 28 product event featuring new Macs, possibly including Apple's first touchscreen laptop. Although Apple trades at 35x forward earnings versus 23x to 31x for most of the Magnificent Seven, the author predicts the stock will soar after Oct. 28.
- $10,000 Invested in Apple Could Be Worth This Much by 2031
Apple's iPhone revenue reached $54.2 billion in fiscal Q3 2026, up nearly 22% from a year earlier, while total revenue rose 16% to $109.4 billion. The author expects iPhone to remain a growth driver, citing AI features and the newly launched foldable iPhone Duo, in a market where foldables account for about 2% of smartphones. The services unit, with more than 2.5 billion active devices, is also expected to grow with higher margins. Assuming EPS grows 13% a year and the forward P/E falls from 35.2 to 32 by 2031, the author estimates an annualized return of about 10.87%, turning $10,000 into roughly $16,752 excluding reinvested dividends. The 35.2 forward P/E is well above the information technology average of 20.2, which the author argues is justified by Apple's consistent earnings, cash flow and pricing power.
Related markets
Latest news
- Musk's wants to merge SpaceX and Tesla: Here's what to know
Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to study a merger, which would be worth about $3.5 trillion combined and would be the largest corporate deal in history. SpaceX, valued at about $2 trillion after a record listing this year, absorbed Musk's AI startup xAI in February, while Tesla is valued at about $1.5 trillion. Musk holds about 82 percent of SpaceX's voting power but only about 20 percent at Tesla. Dan Ives puts the odds of a deal at 90 percent by early 2027, though Musk called the requirement of a majority of all Tesla shares 'quite a high hurdle'. Loyal retail investors hold an estimated 25 to 27 percent of Tesla shares, and legal obstacles appear slight because both companies moved their incorporation to Texas from Delaware.
- CoreWeave and Nebius Stocks Are Crashing. Time to Buy the Dip?
Shares of Nebius and CoreWeave each fell 25% in the week of October 12 to 16. The sell-off stems from the yield on CoreWeave's debt in the secondary market surging to 15%, versus roughly 5% on Treasuries, which pushes the debt into 'distressed' territory and signals doubts about its ability to meet obligations. Nebius sold off in sympathy as a fellow neocloud company. The bigger concern is that both companies must keep issuing debt to fund data centers, and if yields are high at issuance, the assumption of nearly unlimited cheap capital could be challenged. The author says it is unclear whether now is the time to buy.
- Disney’s multiplatform Super Bowl plan frustrates ABC affiliates
ABC station owners are irritated that Disney is airing the Super Bowl across several platforms, including Disney+, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPNU, even though the game is already on ABC and ESPN. A station group CEO estimates that the combined platforms could cut broadcast ad revenue by up to 35% compared with last year. Local affiliates typically earn about 3% of annual ad revenue from the Super Bowl and pay network owners reverse retransmission fees, but Disney+ lacks geofenced ad insertion, so affiliates cannot sell ads to streaming viewers. Disney says national commercials will be identical on all platforms and that streaming major live events is standard industry practice. Super Bowl LX drew 125.6 million viewers in February.
- Meta’s deal to keep Zuckerberg in California adds fuel to wealth tax debate ahead of election
Meta says Mark Zuckerberg will remain in California for eight years and has created a new stock plan that could help cover his taxes if Proposition 40, a 5% tax on Californians worth over $1 billion, passes on Election Day on Nov. 3. According to a filing released with its third-quarter earnings, Meta will issue non-voting Class C shares starting in January, and Zuckerberg can sell or transfer up to 20% of the shares granted to him without affecting his majority voting control. The filing says Zuckerberg’s leadership is crucial to the company’s growth and its AI ambitions, including Meta Superintelligence Labs. Most of the tech industry opposes the measure, while a recent Citrin-Politico poll found 46% in favor and 43% against, suggesting it may fall short of the majority support it needs.
- Nasdaq sell-off: A momentum unwind 'for the record books'
Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager for equities at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, calls Thursday’s sell-off in the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) a momentum unwind “for the record books.” He says the market spent the first half of 2026 driven by a beta and momentum trade led by semiconductors, but in the third quarter, as rates rose, money shifted into quality stocks. He does not think the sell-off is justified by fundamentals, arguing that institutional portfolio managers swapping out of factor positions can drag down whole baskets of stocks. In semiconductors, spot rental rates for Nvidia Blackwell chips are higher than a month ago, showing tightening compute supply, even as financing costs rise and investors worry about neocloud business models and the rising cost of insuring their bonds.
- Dune launches real-time data feeds covering 200 onchain trading venues
Blockchain analytics platform Dune has launched real-time market data feeds covering more than 200 onchain trading venues, aiming to bring this data into the systems of traditional financial institutions. The feeds draw trade data from 12 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana and Base, about one second after execution, covering both spot trading on decentralized exchanges and perpetual futures on Hyperliquid and Lighter. Early clients include quant funds, market makers, asset managers and bank trading desks, which use the data to assess liquidity and compare prices, though Dune did not name them. Meanwhile, the tokenized stock market has grown sharply, with distributed value reaching $3.58 billion, but 16 companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs, have objected to their shares being traded on OKXICE’s proposed platform, and liquidity remains fragmented.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.