Apple’s Quarterly Earnings Preview: What You Need to Know

Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. AAPL designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. Valued at $3.44 trillion by market cap, the company also offers payment, digital content, cloud, and advertising services. The tech giant is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2024 after the market closes on Thursday, Aug. 1. 

Ahead of the event, analysts expect AAPL to report a profit of $1.33 per share on a diluted basis, up 5.6% from $1.26 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports. During the quarter, the iPhone maker announced share repurchases worth $110 billion, the largest in company history. It also launched its new product, the Apple Vision Pro.

For the full year, analysts expect AAPL to report EPS of $6.59, up 7.5% from $6.13 in fiscal 2023.

AAPL stock has outperformed the S&P 500’s ($SPX) 16.4% gains on a YTD basis, with shares up 17.1% during this period. Similarly, it outperformed the S&P 500 Technology Sector SPDR’s (XLK) 16.3% gains over the same time frame.

AAPL’s overall performance can be attributed to its increasing focus on artificial intelligence (AI), which has made analysts more optimistic about its future prospects. The recently held Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) revealed Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system combining generative models with users’ personal context, has generated significant optimism about its prospects. The upcoming AI-enabled iPhone 16 is expected to boost device sales in the upcoming quarters.

On May 2, AAPL reported its Q2 results. Its EPS of $1.53 exceeded Wall Street expectations of $1.51. The company’s revenue was $90.75 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $89.99 billion. Its services revenue rose 14.2% year-over-year to $23.87 billion, a record. Meanwhile, iPhone sales fell 10.5% year over year. AAPL shares closed up more than 2% on the day the results were released and have been on an uptrend since then.

Analysts’ consensus opinion on AAPL stock is bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Out of 30 analysts covering the stock, 20 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, three suggest a “Moderate Buy” rating, six give a “Hold” rating, and one recommends a “Strong Sell.” The average analyst price target for AAPL is $225.19, indicating a marginal potential upside from the current levels. 

On the date of publication, Dipanjan Banchur 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.