Apple’s first foldable iPhone could contribute about $14 billion in revenue in the December quarter, according to Morgan Stanley, which called next week’s product event the company’s most consequential since the iPhone X.

Analyst Erik Woodring described the device as the biggest iPhone form-factor change since 2017. The bank expects strong early demand, but tight supply, with 7 million to 8 million units built in the second half of 2026 and as many as 20 million over the first product cycle. Shipments are expected to start in October or early November.

Morgan Stanley also framed the launch as a test of Apple’s pricing power. Rising NAND and DRAM costs are expected to push Pro models more than $200 higher year over year. The key upgrade on the iPhone 18 Pro is likely TSMC’s 2-nanometer process, aimed at stronger on-device AI performance. The bank said Apple appears more focused on securing components than finding buyers, though memory supply could still limit near-term production.

The September 9th event will also mark a leadership shift. New CEO John Ternus is expected to introduce the foldable — rumored as iPhone Fold or Ultra — alongside what Morgan Stanley called the broadest like-for-like iPhone price increases in company history. Woodring kept an Overweight rating and a $360 price target, noting Apple stock often outperforms into launch events, but can fade on the day itself. Sustained gains, he said, will depend on later estimate revisions.

Other analysts have put the foldable at roughly $2,300 to $2,500. Independent checks from Ming-Chi Kuo have pointed to similarly constrained early volumes and the possibility of weeks-long wait times.
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MacDailyNews Take: We’ll see how supply holds up when pre-orders beign – likely within a minute or two. If you want one of the first foldable iPhones, you’ll need to pre-order within the first minutes!

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The post Morgan Stanley: Foldable iPhone could add $14 billion to Apple’s December quarter appeared first on MacDailyNews.

John Ternus officially became chief executive of Apple on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, succeeding Tim Cook after a 15-year run of iterating Steve Jobs-era products that turned the company into one of the world’s most valuable businesses.

Ternus, previously senior vice president of hardware engineering, takes over a company with a market capitalization around $4.6 trillion. Apple shares, which closed Monday at $316.85, traded higher during Tuesday’s session, showing gains of roughly 2.5% (+$8.00, +2.52% as of 10:59:06 AM EDT) as investors digested the handoff and looked ahead to the fall product cycle.

The transition was announced in April and approved unanimously by the board. Cook becomes executive chairman and will remain involved, particularly on government relations and Apple’s ties with the United States and China. Ternus also joins the board.

Ternus, 51, joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 after studying mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and a brief stint designing virtual-reality hardware. He rose through hardware engineering, becoming a vice president in 2013 and SVP in 2021. He oversaw work on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, and played a central role in Apple’s shift to its own silicon.

Cook praised him as having “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor.” Ternus has said he wants to restore some of the product “magic” associated with Steve Jobs while pushing Apple further into artificial intelligence.

Apple is expected to show its first foldable iPhone and other devices at its September event, along with updates to Siri and other AI features that have lagged rivals. Analysts say hardware innovation and a clearer AI strategy will define his early tenure.

Markets had months to price in the change. The stock has risen about 37% since Cook announced he’d step down and sits not far from its summer highs. Whether Tuesday’s bounce holds will depend less on the title change itself than on what Ternus delivers in the coming product cycle and in Apple’s long-awaited AI response.

MacDailyNews Take: Today is a very happy day for Apple, full of promise!

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The post Apple stock soars as John Ternus becomes CEO appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple shares faced fresh pressure on Monday after Jefferies cut its rating on the tech giant to Underperform from Hold, citing worries about the company’s ability to sustain higher average selling prices for iPhones amid production setbacks and rising costs.

Analyst Edison Lee lowered the firm’s price target to $263.66 from $285.56, implying roughly 16% downside from recent levels. The move adds to a growing list of more cautious views on the world’s most valuable company.

Jefferies pointed to supply-chain checks indicating that Apple has canceled plans for a Twentieth anniversary all-glass iPhone model originally eyed for a September 2027 launch. The cancellation stemmed from poor production yields. The firm described the decision as “a major setback” to Apple’s efforts to introduce higher-priced devices at a time of soaring memory costs.

According to the note, Apple had intended to extend all-glass design features to future iPhone Pro and Pro Max models to further lift average selling prices and margins. With that path now in doubt, Jefferies reduced its estimated compound annual growth rate for iPhone ASPs between fiscal 2026 and 2031 and cut its fiscal 2028 and 2029 earnings-per-share estimates by about 2% and 3%, respectively.

Lee also flagged recent increases in trade-in values for iPhones in the U.S. and Europe. While those moves could pull forward demand for the current iPhone 17 cycle, they risk creating greater pressure on sales of the subsequent iPhone 18 generation.

The downgrade comes as analysts continue to debate Apple’s long-term smartphone growth trajectory, particularly its capacity to drive premium pricing and volume expansion in a competitive market. Sell-equivalent ratings remain relatively scarce among the broader analyst community, but the latest cut underscores mounting scrutiny of Apple’s hardware roadmap.

MacDailyNews Take: iCal’ed for future use.

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The post Jefferies downgrades Apple after company cancels plans for Twentieth Anniversary all-glass iPhone appeared first on MacDailyNews.

On August 9, 2011, Apple overtook ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable company for the first time. Many such milestones followed.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apenas três dias após quebrar a barreira dos US$5 trilhões em valor de mercado, a Apple registrou uma queda e tanto no mercado de ações — algo que sucedeu a sua última conferência de resultados financeiros, realizada ontem (30/7).

Avaliada agora em US$4,537 trilhões (US$308,91 por ação, queda de 7,35%), a Maçã já tinha visto o valor dos seus papéis recuar cerca de 3% ainda ontem, logo após o fim da reunião com investidores, nas negociações pós-fechamento da Nasdaq.

Entre as causas dessa queda, estão um crescimento menor que o esperado para a App Store e para o segmento de serviços como um todo, além de desafios enfrentados pela companhia na cadeia de fornecimento — tanto pela forte demanda de produtos como o iPhone e o Mac quanto pela crise no mercado de memórias —, o que não afetou os resultados financeiros do terceiro trimestre fiscal de 2026, mas nos dá um prognóstico do que pode vir pela frente.

Como era de se esperar, a queda grande de hoje fez com que a Apple perdesse o posto de empresa mais valiosa do mundo, ocupado agora pela NVIDIA [$NVDA], que fechou o dia avaliada em US$4,862 trilhões (US$200,75 por ação, +2,93%).

A gigante de Cupertino, no entanto, permanece à frente da Alphabet [$GOOG], que apresentou hoje um crescimento forte de 6,88% e fechou o dia avaliada em US$4,362 trilhões (US$356,65 por ação).

Em quarto lugar, temos a Microsoft [$MSFT], um dia após suas ações registrarem a maior valorização da história em um único dia (ontem os papéis subiram 15,51%, adicionando cerca de US$450 bilhões ao valor de mercado da companhia). Avaliada agora em US$3,451 trilhões (US$464,72 por ação), ela apresentou hoje um crescimento de 3,02%.

Que reviravolta, hein?! 💸

Apple shares dropped nearly 10% on Friday following a disappointing outlook that highlighted the company’s struggles to secure enough components amid an AI-driven data center boom straining global supply chains.

The decline represents the stock’s worst single-day performance since the pandemic-driven selloff in March 2020. It erases some $400 billion from Apple’s market capitalization and hand the title of the world’s most valuable company back to AI chip leader Nvidia, just days after Apple had reclaimed it.

Outgoing CEO Tim Cook, long regarded as an “Operations Genius,” described the shortages as “very significant” during his final earnings call before transitioning to executive chairman in September, with John Ternus set to succeed him. Cook said Apple had limited options to address the constraints.

“If even at Apple’s scale they are saying they are out of all supply chain flexibility, it’s really bad for everyone,” Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consultant Creative Strategies, told Reuters.

Big Tech firms have been aggressively securing advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to fuel AI data centers, driving shortages and higher prices that are expected to shrink both the personal computer and smartphone markets this year.

Apple had previously mitigated some of the impact from rising memory costs by relying on stockpiled inventory. However, Cook noted that this buffer is diminishing, while processor shortages are preventing the company from fully meeting strong demand for iPhones and Macs.

The company’s forecast for the current quarter called for revenue growth of 9% to 11%, falling short of Wall Street’s roughly 12% estimate. Softer growth in the services business also tempered otherwise solid June-quarter results.

Services weakness concerns investors

The slowdown in services raised particular concerns because it occurred alongside a period of robust iPhone sales. Services typically benefit from App Store commissions and include offerings such as Apple Music and the Apple TV streaming service.

Analysts warned that any further pressure on iPhone sales — potentially from expected price increases with the new lineup typically launched in September — could deepen the services softness.

Morgan Stanley analysts noted that Apple’s leverage over the supply chain appears diminished and that AI has not yet provided a clear measurable boost to products or services, with future monetization still uncertain. They added that App Store softness might even stem from AI shifting how customers spend their time.

Some analysts remained more optimistic, pointing out that the iPhone has previously absorbed price hikes without major demand damage. A recent U.S. leasing arrangement with Klarna, offering monthly payment plans for Apple devices, could also help offset higher prices.

At least four brokerages lowered their price targets for Apple shares, while three raised them. The median target moved to $330—$3 below the previous closing price according to LSEG data. The stock had gained 22.7% year-to-date through Thursday’s close.

MacDailyNews Take: For perspective, Chevron is worth $392 billion, Caterpillar: $378 billion, and Oracle: $373 billion. Apple today lost more than Chevron, Caterpillar, or Oracle is worth in their entirety. Overreact much, Mr. Market?

Wild overreactions like this are things of beauty! Embrace and profit from them!

Beloved interns, please Tap That Keg! Three cheers for today’s AAPL deep, deep discount! Prost, Everyone!

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The post Apple loses some $400 billion in a single trading day appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple tumbled in late trading after component shortages weighed on the company’s sales forecast, signaling that industrywide supply constraints are taking a bigger toll than anticipated.

Revenue will rise 9% to 11% in the fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through September, the company said on a post-earnings conference call Thursday. Analysts had estimated growth of more than 12% in the period, which is likely to be the debut quarter for the next iPhone models, Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman reports.

Apple has been struggling to secure enough memory chips and computer processors, a situation that forced the company to raise prices on Macs and iPads last month. The supply crunch has also led to extended wait times on key computers like the Mac mini and Mac Studio.

The constraints will affect the iPhone, Mac and iPad in the September quarter, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said during the call. Currency fluctuations are hampering growth as well, he said.

Apple shares fell about 8% in extended trading following the announcement.

The tech giant’s results also showed weaker-than-expected expansions in China and services, two onetime growth engines. Though total revenue topped estimates, the China sales amounted to $18.8 billion in the fiscal third quarter, well short of the $19.6 billion estimated by analysts.

Services revenue of $30.7 billion also missed expectations of about $31.4 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said constraints would affect more Macs, iPhones and iPads in the current quarter. He likened the memory cost issue to a “100-year flood,” while adding that the chip shortages were fueled by higher-than-expected demand for the iPhone and Mac. He specifically cited consumer interest in the iPhone 17 line and MacBook Neo, a new low-cost laptop.

“This is not a regular supply issue, it’s a demand forecast issue to be candid,” Cook said during the company’s conference call with analysts on Thursday. “We’ve got a quarter ahead where we’ll be scrambling on the supply side.”

Overall, Apple reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% from a year earlier and above estimates, with net income rising to $29.7 billion. iPhone revenue jumped 21.7% to $54.25 billion, while Mac sales rose sharply as well.

MacDailyNews Take: The “disappointing” outlook (if revenue rising 9% to 11% YoY could ever be called “disappointing”) sent AAPL shares down as much as 9.78% in subsequent trading, marking one of the stock’s sharpest declines in more than a year.

If every company is forced to raise prices, and they are, the one with the most affluent customers stands to benefit most. Its buyers can better absorb the higher costs, while users of rival products may rethink their choices based on long-term value and resale potential rather than just the sticker price, helping Apple amass market share in the process.

These sort of irrational haircuts are resplendent gifts that will never stop giving! If you’re in position, take them!

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The post Apple slides after supply shortages hurt sales forecast appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple shares fell nearly 10% on Friday after a disappointing forecast revealed struggles to secure enough components amid the AI-driven data center boom straining global supply chains, according to Reuters.

The drop, if sustained, would mark the stock’s worst day since the pandemic-driven selloff in March 2020. It would erase nearly $500 billion from Apple’s market capitalization and return the crown of the world’s most valuable company to AI chip giant Nvidia, days after Apple reclaimed it.

Tim Cook, widely hailed as a supply-chain genius, called the shortages “very significant” and said Apple had limited options to address them, speaking on his final earnings call as CEO before handing the reins to John Ternus in September and becoming executive chairman.

“If even at Apple’s scale they are saying they are out all supply chain flexibility, it’s really bad for everyone,” Ben Bajarin, CEO of tech consultant Creative Strategies, told Reuters.

Big Tech has been scooping up advanced chip-making capacity and memory chips to power its AI data centers, sparking shortages and price increases that are expected to shrink both the personal computer and smartphone markets this year.

Apple had cushioned some of the blow from surging memory costs by drawing on stockpiled inventory, but Cook said on Apple’s conference call that the buffer was fading and shortages of processors were keeping it from meeting strong demand for iPhones and Macs.

Its forecast on Thursday for revenue growth of between 9% and 11% in the current quarter fell short of Wall Street’s roughly 12% estimate, and softer growth in its services business also overshadowed otherwise strong June-quarter results.

Services Weakness Worries Investors

The services weakness worried investors as it came during a stretch of strong iPhone sales, which typically feed the business that takes a cut of App Store purchases and includes everything from Apple Music to Apple TV.

That slowdown could deepen if iPhone sales take a hit from a price increase that many analysts expect during the launch of the new lineup, which typically happens in September, the report noted.

“Apple’s leverage over the supply chain appears to be in question and it’s not clear that AI is serving as any measurable tailwind to products or services, with its future monetization impact still uncertain,” Morgan Stanley analysts said, as quoted by Reuters. “In fact, one could argue App Store softness might even be a result of AI re-prioritizing customer time.”

Still, some analysts said that the iPhone has weathered price hikes before without denting demand significantly and that a recent U.S. leasing deal with Klarna that offers monthly plans for Apple’s devices could soften the blow.

At least four brokerages cut their targets for the company’s stock price, while three raised. That moved the median view to $330, which is $3 lower than the last closing price, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. The stock has risen 22.7% this year as of Thursday’s close.

MacDailyNews Take: It’s always darkest before the dawn. Just one month to go!

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The post Apple stock price plummets as supply chain snarls mar forecast in Cook’s final earnings as CEO appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Tim Cook’s fifteen-year run as Apple’s CEO is closing not with a victory lap, but with a sharp reminder of the limits of his signature skill set. Fresh off a record June quarter, the company under his final guidance faces a memory and component crunch that management itself has called a “hundred-year flood,” one that will constrain iPhone, Mac, and iPad shipments in the current quarter. Apple investors responded by promptly erasing some $350 billion in market value. The stumble leaves Cook’s carefully cultivated image as a global supply chain genius looking frayed just a few weeks before he hands the keys to John Ternus.

Rich Duprey for 24/7 Wall. St.:
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The problem wasn’t the quarter Apple reported. It was the quarter ahead… Importantly, Apple isn’t warning that customers are disappearing. It is warning that it can’t build enough products to satisfy them…

Wall Street largely views Apple’s problem as delayed demand rather than destroyed demand…

In short, Apple’s latest earnings did not expose a weakening franchise. They exposed the limits of even Tim Cook’s supply-chain expertise during an industrywide shortage unlike anything the company has previously experienced.

The market, though, responded by focusing on the next three months. Smart investors should spend more time thinking about the next three years.

Apple still generates record quarterly results, maintains one of the world’s strongest consumer ecosystems, and serves a customer base that has repeatedly proven willing to wait — and pay — for its products. Regardless of whether memory prices remain elevated for another quarter or two, supply constraints eventually ease. When they do, delayed sales have an opportunity to flow back into Apple’s results.

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MacDailyNews Take: The stock’s ugly drop looks like a classic short-term overreaction. Demand remains solid; the real problem is temporary supply constraints. In just one month, Apple gets its first product-focused CEO since Steve Jobs. The fifteen-year operational chapter is finally closing.

Patience, Padawans. Backing up the truck.

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

The post Tim Cook exits Apple not with a bang, but with a $350 billion whimper appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple has emerged as Wall Street’s preferred Big Tech refuge this year as investors grow wary of heavy artificial intelligence spending by rivals. The company’s fiscal third quarter results, due after the market close on Thursday, will show whether that status can endure.

According to Bloomberg News’ Ryan Vlastelica, Apple’s shares have surged 17% in July and are on track for their strongest monthly performance in four years. The stock has climbed 24% in 2026, far outpacing the rest of the Magnificent Seven technology giants. Apple has also repeatedly crossed a $5 trillion market capitalization in recent sessions, reclaiming the title of the world’s most valuable publicly traded company and joining Nvidia Corp. as the only firms to reach that milestone.

The rally reflects a broader shift. Investors have rotated away from companies pouring tens or hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centers and infrastructure, favoring Apple’s more restrained approach. The company has kept capital expenditures relatively modest (far below the outlays of peers such as Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon) while still integrating AI features, often by partnering with others including Google for underlying technology. That stance has positioned Apple as a lower-risk “AI safety play” with strong cash flow, substantial buybacks and pricing power.

Yet Thursday’s report, to be released after the closing bell, could highlight remaining challenges. Analysts will scrutinize iPhone demand following the iPhone 17 cycle, the impact of elevated memory chip costs on margins, the sustainability of a rebound in China, and any updates on Apple Intelligence and a more capable Siri. Consensus expectations call for revenue of roughly $109 billion and earnings per share near $1.89. The call will also mark Tim Cook’s final earnings appearance as chief executive before John Ternus assumes the role on September 1.

As Vlastelica noted in coverage of AAPL stock’s recent strength, the same caution that has made Apple a market leader this year also leaves it playing catch-up on advanced AI capabilities. Strong results and confident guidance could reinforce the safety narrative; any signs of slower hardware momentum or lingering AI execution gaps risk testing investors’ newfound enthusiasm.
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MacDailyNews Take: As always, it’s Apple’s guidance that will drive the stock after its earning report.

MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s earnings results for you as soon as they are released on Thursday, July 30th right around 4:30pm EDT / 1:30pm PDT. We’ll follow that with live notes from Apple’s conference call with analysts starting at 5:00pm EDT / 2:00pm PDT.

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The post Apple’s earnings report puts its AI safety premium to the test appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Despite heavy – and rather ill-timed – selling that reduced Berkshire Hathaway’s Apple position and sparked talk of a shift under new CEO Greg Abel, the tech giant remains the conglomerate’s largest equity holding by far. At roughly 228 million shares worth about $60 billion (around 22% of the stock portfolio), Apple continues to deliver dividends, massive unrealized gains, and a subtle ownership boost from the company’s relentless share buybacks—showing the trim was about risk management, not a loss of conviction.

Micah Zimmerman for The Motley Fool:
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Berkshire also sits on an enormous unrealized gain, since Berkshire’s cost basis is a fraction of today’s price, and the shares throws off a steady stream of dividends every year. Whatever the trimming implied, Apple is not a relic in this portfolio. It is the foundation.

Here’s the part that caught my eye. Apple spends tens of billions of dollars a year buying back its own stock, steadily shrinking the number of shares in circulation. That matters for Berkshire in a subtle but powerful way. Because the total share count keeps falling, Berkshire’s ownership percentage of Apple slowly rises even though it hasn’t bought a single new share. Its claim on Apple’s future profits quietly grows on autopilot.

Buffett has praised exactly this dynamic for years, calling it one of the reasons he loved the investment. He once compared it to your ownership of a business rising simply because your partners keep buying each other out. It means Apple keeps working for Berkshire in the background, compounding its stake without any action at all.

It is tempting to read the share sales as Berkshire’s loss of faith. I would read them differently. Apple’s position had grown so large that, at one point, it was worth more than everything else in the equity portfolio combined, a level of concentration that made even [Warren] Buffett uncomfortable. Trimming was about managing risk and locking in enormous gains at a rich valuation, not abandoning the thesis. Choosing to keep roughly $60 billion in Apple, rather than exiting entirely, is a statement of enduring conviction under Abel, not a goodbye.

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MacDailyNews Take: The two most beautiful words in the English language: passive income.

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The post Berkshire Hathaway still holds $60 billion in Apple shares — and the stake keeps quietly growing appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter 2026 results (the June quarter) after the market close on Thursday, July 30th, followed by its usual conference call. The release carries extra weight: it is expected to be Tim Cook’s final earnings call as CEO before hardware engineering chief John Ternus assumes the role on September 1, with Cook moving to executive chairman.

Consensus Estimates

Wall Street is looking for solid double-digit growth. Consensus forecasts (drawn from roughly 27–31 analysts) call for:

• Revenue of approximately $108.9 billion, up about 16% from $94.0 billion a year earlier.

• Diluted EPS of $1.89, up roughly 20% from $1.57 in the year-ago quarter.

These figures sit comfortably inside management’s prior guidance of 14–17% year-over-year revenue growth and a gross margin range of 47.5–48.5% (down from 49.3% in the March quarter as higher memory costs begin to weigh). Operating expenses are expected in the $18.8–$19.1 billion range.

Zacks consensus is nearly identical at $108.8 billion in sales and $1.88 EPS. Apple has beaten estimates in recent quarters, with an average earnings surprise of more than 7% over the past four reports.

Segment Expectations

• iPhone remains the primary driver. Analysts project iPhone revenue near $53 billion (some estimates range $53–$55 billion), representing roughly 19–23% growth from $44.6 billion last year, fueled by the iPhone 17 cycle, healthy upgrade activity, share gains, and a richer mix of higher-priced Pro models.

• Services, Apple’s high-margin growth engine, is expected around $31.4 billion, up from $27.4 billion a year earlier (mid-teens percentage growth). Investors will watch for any commentary on Apple Intelligence adoption and subscription momentum.

• Mac, iPad, and Wearables are expected to contribute more modestly, with some notes of supply constraints on certain Mac models.

Analyst Views

Several firms are slightly ahead of consensus. Goldman Sachs expects revenue of $110.1 billion (17% growth) and EPS of $1.93, citing outperformance in iPhone and Mac plus better margins; the firm raised its price target to $370. Bank of America models about $109 billion in revenue and $1.89 EPS. UBS is more cautious at $107.8 billion revenue and $1.84 EPS.

Key focus areas on the call are expected to include:

• Sustainability of iPhone demand into the September quarter and the upcoming product cycle.

• Gross-margin trajectory amid elevated DRAM and NAND costs.

• Progress on AI features (including the recent clearance for Apple Intelligence in Greater China) and any early metrics on usage or monetization.

• Forward guidance, especially for the September quarter, and any color on the leadership transition.

• Capital return, inventory levels, and China trends.

Apple stock has rallied strongly in 2026 (up roughly 24% year-to-date in some tallies), leaving the shares trading at a premium valuation — near 35–38 times forward earnings by some measures. That leaves limited room for disappointment. A clean beat paired with confident guidance on continued double-digit growth and stable margins would likely be well received; any soft outlook or sharper-than-expected margin pressure could prompt a more cautious reaction.
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MacDailyNews Take: In a nutshell, analysts expect another strong quarter driven by iPhone and Services, but the real test will be whether Apple can sustain the momentum while navigating higher component costs as new CEO John Ternus, blessedly a product guy per se, prepares to take the reins. Apple Upgrade should help in this respect.

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The post What Wall Street expects from Apple’s Q3 earnings on Thursday appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple is on track for its strongest June-quarter sales growth in five years after holding iPhone prices steady amid rising component costs, according to Reuters reporting. Investors, however, will be watching closely for signals on how long the company can avoid price increases on its flagship product.

Reuters reported that the consumer electronics giant raised prices on iPads and MacBooks last month to offset higher costs from a shortage of memory and storage chips driven by massive AI datacenter buildouts. It spared iPhones, even as rival smartphone makers passed on those costs, contributing to a decline in global smartphone shipments in the April-June quarter to the lowest level in 13 years.The strategy appears to have paid off. iPhone shipments rose 3% and Apple’s market share climbed to nearly a fifth, according to estimates from research firm Counterpoint cited by Reuters. Combined with the fact that Apple has not spent hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers, this helped the company reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable company from Nvidia after two years, as doubts about the AI boom grow.

Apple shares, up nearly 25% so far this year, briefly pushed the company’s market value above $5 trillion for the first time on Tuesday and have widely outperformed the rest of the stocks among the “Magnificent Seven.”

“Apple was initially scorned by many investors for not joining the AI investment cycle. Now, it is actually being rewarded as investors question the relationship between (Big Tech’s) spending and return on investment,” said Dan Morgan, portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, which owns Apple shares, according to Reuters.

Last week, Alphabet stunned investors with a negative free cash flow for the first time in its history, Reuters noted. Morgan said he expects Apple to increase prices later this year, which could dampen demand and put pressure on a company whose high valuation does not leave “a lot of room for error.”

Analysts expect Apple to raise prices when it releases its next iPhone series, typically in September. Earlier this month, the company raised the price of Apple Music and Apple One, a subscription bundle for multiple Apple services, Reuters reported.

According to LSEG data cited by Reuters, Apple is expected to report that revenue rose 15.5% to $108.65 billion in the April-June period, its fiscal third quarter. That is slightly slower than the previous three months but marks the strongest third-quarter sales growth since 2021. Profit growth is expected to slow slightly to 18.1% as gross margin slips to 47.9% from 49.3% in the previous quarter.

Some analysts said the popularity of Apple’s devices and its strong ecosystem is likely to stave off any major demand hit for iPhones from price hikes, which could protect margins.“Apple’s core product demand has been somewhat inelastic, with iPhone being the most inelastic product within Apple’s product ecosystem, followed by Mac and then iPad,” Morgan Stanley analysts said. “This generally means that recent price increases are unlikely to materially disrupt demand, especially considering supply challenges at peers.”

iPhone sales likely increased 20.8% in the period, also marking the strongest third-quarter growth since 2021, Reuters reported. Mac revenue growth is expected to improve to 8.7% from 5.7% in the previous quarter despite the price increase, while iPad sales are expected to slow slightly to 5.2% from 8% in the second quarter.

MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s earnings results for you as soon as they are released on Thursday, July 30th right around 4:30pm EDT / 1:30pm PDT. We’ll follow that with live notes from Apple’s conference call with analysts starting at 5:00pm EDT / 2:00pm PDT.

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In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $3.17 to $340.08 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $342.89.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 50,765,695 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 55,539,493 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 41.22.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.995 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. Apple (AAPL) – $4.995T
2. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.772TT
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.081T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.922T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.483T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• SpaceX (SPCX): $1.534T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.506T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.214T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.100T
• Walmart (WMT): $900.059B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $741.304B
• Intel (INTC): $435.297B
• Cisco (CSCO): $455.551B
• Netflix (NFLX): $301.428B
• Dell (DELL): $253.594B
• IBM (IBM): $214.326B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $176.724B
• Disney (DIS): $171.741B
• Sony (SONY): $130.897B
• Spotify (SPOT): $104.260B
• Adobe (ADBE): $99.025B
• Nokia (NOK): $49.992B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $25.858B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.562B
• BlackBerry (BB): $4.721B
• Sonos (SONO): $2.001B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.249B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: To the moon, Alice. To the moon!

On April 20, when Apple announced Tim Cook would be kicked upstairs to be replaced by product guy John Ternus as CEO, AAPL closed at $273.05 after being range-bound all year. Since that announcement, AAPL has surged as high as today’s $342.89. That 25.58% leap in under 90 days highlights just how favorably Apple investors view John Ternus.

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The post Apple shares hit new all-time closing and intraday highs appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple’s market value briefly crossed the $5 trillion mark for the first time on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, making the iPhone maker only the second company in history to achieve that level after Nvidia.

Shares of Apple rose as high as $342.89 during the session, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $5.036 trillion. They later traded at $339.70, leaving the company valued at about $4.991 trillion.

The milestone comes just weeks after Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable company, overtaking Nvidia. The chipmaker had held the top spot since June 2025 and was the first firm ever to breach $5 trillion.

Apple’s strong performance this year has been fueled by solid demand for its products and a deliberate decision to stay largely on the sidelines of the costly artificial-intelligence infrastructure race that has pressured cash flows at many of its Big Tech peers. While the company has struggled to develop competitive in-house AI models, it has leaned on Google’s technology to power features such as an upgraded Siri, avoiding the heavy data-center investments that have made some investors cautious about returns.

Holding iPhone prices steady last month — while raising prices on MacBooks and iPads — has also supported demand, as consumers bought the flagship device ahead of expected future price increases. To further boost accessibility, Apple launched a U.S. device-leasing program on Tuesday in partnership with Klarna. Monthly payments start at $17.99 for an iPhone, $11.99 for an Apple Watch or iPad, and $24.99 for a Mac.

“Apple has resisted the AI spending race, betting that customer experience — not infrastructure investment — will ultimately determine the winners,” Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, told Reuters. “The new leasing program is a clever response: it doesn’t reduce the price of an iPhone, but it changes how consumers perceive the cost by replacing sticker shock with a predictable monthly payment.”

Including Tuesday’s gains, Apple stock has climbed 24% year-to-date, outperforming the rest of the so-called Magnificent 7 technology stocks. The company is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market close on Thursday, with analysts forecasting more than 15% year-over-year revenue growth.
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MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s earnings results for you as soon as they are released on Thursday, July 30th right around 4:30pm EDT / 1:30pm PDT. We’ll follow that with live notes from Apple’s conference call with analysts starting at 5:00pm EDT / 2:00pm PDT.

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The post Apple briefly hits $5 trillion market cap, becoming only the second company to reach the milestone appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple reclaims the title of the world's most valuable company, overtaking Nvidia after a strong rally in its stock.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $3.89 to $336.91 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was also set today at $339.57.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 45,246,885 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 55,382,396 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 40.79.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.948 trillion, making it the world’s most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

1. Apple (AAPL) – $4.948T
2. NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.760T
3. Alphabet (GOOGL) – $3.994T
4. Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.890T
5. Amazon (AMZN) – $2.489T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.070T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.221T
• SpaceX (SPCX): $1.495T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.507T
• Walmart (WMT): $889.236B
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.069T
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $807.066B
• Intel (INTC): $462.383B
• Cisco (CSCO): $451.570B
• Netflix (NFLX): $293.141B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $181.397B
• IBM (IBM): $203.765B
• Disney (DIS): $167.816B
• Dell (DELL): $275.606B
• Sony (SONY): $130.897B
• Adobe (ADBE): $94.506B
• Spotify (SPOT): $101.724B
• Nokia (NOK): $51.750B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $24.281B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.031B
• BlackBerry (BB): $5.005B
• Sonos (SONO): $1.866B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $0.248B
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: The natural order has been restored, thanks to growing optimism over incoming CEO John Ternus*. Onward and upward, Cupertino soldiers!

*On April 20, when Apple announced Tim Cook would be kicked upstairs to be replaced by product guy John Ternus as CEO, AAPL closed at $273.05 after being range-bound all year. Since that announcement, AAPL has surged as high as today’s $339.57. That ~24% leap in under 90 days highlights just how favorably Apple investors view John Ternus.

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The post Apple again the World’s Most Valuable Company as shares hit new all-time closing and intraday highs appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The U.S. stock market has been stuck in a two-month rut amid rising bond yields and disappointing earnings from Alphabet and Tesla, leaving bulls searching for a catalyst. Apple stands out as the only stock among the ten largest in the S&P 500 trading near an all-time high, CNBC reports.

After months of stagnation, Apple shares have climbed about 20% from their late-June low and recently traded less than two dollars below a fresh record set just over a week earlier. The company is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell on Thursday.

Options activity reflects traders positioning for continued strength. Big-money participants have been buying in-the-money calls, while speculative interest has focused on a potential move to new highs by Friday, according to trades observed before the market close on Friday and elevated open interest built up over the summer.

Of the roughly $590 million in options premium that changed hands in Apple on Friday, about $442 million was linked to calls, per SpotGamma data. Traders purchased nearly 560,000 calls versus just 332,000 puts, according to ThinkOrSwim figures. Options prices currently imply an almost 4% move for Apple after earnings—an unusually large expected swing compared with the roughly 1% average historical move over the past year, based on Cboe LiveVol data.

“I think the probability is fairly high that Apple could help stabilize the market this week,” Nigam Arora, founder and author of The Arora Report newsletter, told CNBC. “Investors are viewing Apple as a defensive stock because, unlike several of its peers, it isn’t spending hundreds of billions on AI capex.”

The largest single trade Friday involved a new position of $2.6 million in 280-strike calls expiring in mid-August—a bullish, near stock-replacement trade given its high delta.

Among options expiring this Friday, the $320 strike holds the largest open interest, with about 13,000 calls and 5,000 puts outstanding, according to BarChart data. That positioning suggests confidence that last week’s lows will hold even if the reaction to earnings is muted.

By volume on Friday, the most actively traded contract was the 300-strike put (about 7,500 contracts for roughly $374,000 in premium). The second-most popular was the 340-strike call (5,000 contracts totaling about $2.3 million in premium), SpotGamma data show. That call closed at $4.25, meaning buyers would need Apple to rally roughly 3.4% this week to push beyond its all-time high of $335.

MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll have Apple’s earnings results for you as soon as they are released on Thursday, Thursday, July 30th right around 4:30pm EDT / 1:30pm PDT. We’ll follow that with live notes from Apple’s conference call with analysts starting at 5:00pm EDT / 2:00pm PDT.

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The post Options prices currently imply an almost 4% move for Apple after July 30 earnings report appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Pela quinta vez só neste mês, as ações da Apple [$AAPL] voltaram a alcançar uma nova máxima histórica após abrirem esta semana com uma alta de 1,17%. Agora, elas valem US$336,91 — o penúltimo recorde, vale lembrar, foi de US$333,74 e havia sido registrado no último dia 17/7.

Durante o pregão, os papéis da Maçã chegaram a atingir a marca dos US$339,57, o que também representa um recorde em relação ao último pico registrado (US$334,98).

Além disso, a empresa voltou a assumir a liderança do ranking das mais valiosas do mundo, após atingir um market cap de US$4,948 trilhões — se aproximando, portanto, da marca dos US$5 trilhões pela primeira vez.

Agora segunda colocada dessa lista, a NVIDIA [$NVDA] apresentou uma queda forte durante o pregão (-4,99%, mais especificamente), o que fez com que suas ações fechassem o dia valendo US$196,51. Em termos de valor de mercado, a empresa está agora avaliada em US$4,76 trilhões (US$188 bilhões a menos do que a Apple).

Na terceira posição, temos a Alphabet [$GOOG], com um market cap de US$3,994 trilhões. Durante o dia de hoje, os papéis da empresa-mãe do Google cresceram 2,34%, fechando o dia valendo US$326,57.

Apple shares surged roughly 3.53% on Friday, closing at $333.02 after closing the prior day at $321.66. This moved the stock closer to recent record highs and pushed its market cap at $4.891 trillion.

Main drivers

Several factors appear to have fueled the move amid a mixed-to-weaker broader market (with pressure on some chip and other tech stocks):

• Analyst support and price target increases: Multiple firms issued positive notes. Robert W. Baird raised its target to $330 from $310 (Outperform). Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $364 from $360 (Overweight), citing expectations that fiscal Q3 results (due July 30) could modestly beat consensus. HSBC upgraded to Buy with a $366 target. These reinforced confidence in Apple’s fundamentals ahead of earnings.

• Apple Intelligence progress in China: Reports of successful regulatory registration/approval for Apple’s generative AI features in China (partnering with local firms such as Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen as a core model and Baidu secondarily) boosted sentiment. China remains a key market, and clearer access for on-device AI features is viewed as a meaningful long-term positive for services and hardware demand.

• AI strategy and pre-earnings optimism: Investors continue to favor Apple’s relatively capital-efficient, on-device AI approach (lower data-center spending than many peers). This has helped the stock outperform in recent weeks even as other big tech names face higher capex scrutiny. Anticipation of the July 30 earnings report (consensus roughly around $1.88–$1.89 EPS and ~$109 billion revenue, with solid year-over-year growth expected) added to the buying interest.

Recent product-cycle optimism (including the broader Mac refresh pipeline reported earlier in the week) and Apple’s overall ecosystem strength have provided a supportive backdrop, but today’s jump was more directly tied to the analyst actions, China AI milestone, and earnings positioning.

MacDailyNews Take: Stock moves can reverse quickly, and no single factor is ever the sole cause. Apple has not issued company-specific news today that appears to be the primary catalyst. Earnings on July 30th, whcih we will, as usual cover with live notes, will be Apple’s next major test.

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