Wedbush Has Pessimistic Outlook of Apple Q3 Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Research analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Apple in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings of $1.34 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.35. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apple’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.37 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.55 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.40 EPS.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.92 on Monday. Apple has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.