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.
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Related tickers and likely impact
AAPL
• NeutralApple Inc.
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals |
| Market cap | $5.0T |
| Close on 10/20/2026 | 339.73 |
| Change that session | -0.94% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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