Apple (AAPL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Apple (AAPL) closed at $208.84 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.78% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.69%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.65%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.58%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 4.35% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.36% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 30, 2019. On that day, AAPL is projected to report earnings of $2.12 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 9.4%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $53.31 billion, up 0.09% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.47 per share and revenue of $256.50 billion. These totals would mark changes of -3.69% and -3.42%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% lower within the past month. AAPL currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, AAPL is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.07. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.65.

Also, we should mention that AAPL has a PEG ratio of 1.76. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AAPL's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.5 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, which puts it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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