Apple’s Annual Report Card: What the Experts Are Saying About the Tech Giant’s Future
Apple Inc.’s Annual Results: What to Expect for Next Year
Last week, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced its annual results to the market. Initial reaction was not positive, with the stock falling 3.7% to $223. Sales of $391 billion and statutory earnings per share of $6.08 were roughly in line with expectations. Earnings is an important time for investors because they can track a company’s performance, look at analysts’ forecasts for next year, and see if there has been a change in sentiment toward the company.
View our latest analysis for Apple.
Considering the latest performance, the consensus forecast from Apple’s 32 analysts is for the company to post sales of $414.8 billion in 2025. This represents a slight improvement in sales of 6.1% over the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are expected to rise 19% to $7.40. However, prior to this earnings release, analysts had expected sales of $420 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $7.40 in 2025.
Analysts reaffirmed their price target of $242, showing that the business is performing well in line with expectations. However, this is not the only conclusion we can draw from this data, as some investors also consider spreads in estimates when evaluating analysts’ price targets. Currently, the most optimistic analyst values Apple at $300 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at $184.
One way to get more context on these forecasts is to compare them to past performance and look at the performance of other companies in the same industry. We would like to emphasize that Apple’s revenue growth is expected to slow, as the projected 6.1% CAGR through the end of 2025 is significantly lower than the 8.3% CAGR over the past five years. Comparing this to other companies in the industry (including analyst forecasts), they are collectively expected to grow their revenue at 7.6% per year.
Conclusion
Most importantly, there was no major change in investor sentiment, with analysts reaffirming that the company’s performance was in line with its previous earnings per share estimates. Fortunately, analysts also reaffirmed their sales estimates and stated that the company’s performance is in line with expectations. However, data shows that Apple’s profits are expected to lag the overall industry.
From this perspective, we believe the long-term business outlook is much more important than next year’s performance. Simply Wall St has all the analyst estimates for Apple out to 2027, and you can see them for free on our platform here.
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