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Investing.com - UBS raised its price target on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to $280 from $220 while maintaining a Neutral rating following the company’s quarterly earnings report. The new target approaches Apple’s current trading price of $270.72, with the stock sitting just 1% below its 52-week high of $274.14. According to InvestingPro data, Apple appears overvalued compared to its Fair Value estimate, while trading at a high P/E ratio of 41.
The iPhone maker reported solid quarterly results with iPhone revenue growing 6% to $49.0 billion, though slightly below UBS’s estimate of $50.3 billion. Supply constraints impacted iPhone sales during the quarter, potentially pushing some revenue into the December quarter. Overall, Apple’s total revenue reached $408.62 billion over the last twelve months, with a growth rate of 5.97%.
Apple expects iPhone revenue to grow by "double-digits" in the December quarter, with the company forecasting total revenue growth of 10%-12%. The company also anticipates approximately 14% growth in its Services segment during the same period. This forecast exceeds Apple’s FY2025 revenue growth projection of 6%, with analysts expecting earnings per share to reach $7.47 for the fiscal year.
Despite the product mix shifting toward more iPhones, Apple guided gross margin to 47%-48%, up 30 basis points quarter-over-quarter at the midpoint. UBS noted this uptick coincides with the reduction of China tariffs to 10% from 20%, which it estimates provides approximately a 20 basis point uplift to the guidance. This projected margin aligns with Apple’s current gross profit margin of 46.68% for the last twelve months.
As an offset to the gross margin improvement, Apple expects operating expenses to increase approximately 18.5% year-over-year at the midpoint of its outlook, exceeding revenue growth and dampening operating leverage. InvestingPro analysis shows Apple operates with a moderate level of debt but has a current ratio of 0.87, indicating short-term obligations exceed liquid assets. Despite this, Apple maintains a "GOOD" overall financial health score, with detailed metrics available in the comprehensive Pro Research Report covering this prominent tech player.
In other recent news, Apple reported its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings, surpassing both revenue and profit expectations. Despite this, iPhone revenue showed a notable slowdown compared to the previous quarter. Analysts at DA Davidson responded by raising Apple’s price target to $270 from $250, maintaining a Neutral rating. Rosenblatt also increased its price target to $250, highlighting the company’s fiscal first-quarter 2026 revenue guidance, which exceeded analyst forecasts. Jefferies upgraded Apple’s stock rating from Underperform to Hold, citing better-than-expected September quarter revenue growth of 8%. Baird expressed optimism by raising its price target to $300, maintaining an Outperform rating based on Apple’s solid fiscal fourth-quarter results. Meanwhile, TD Cowen adjusted its price target to $325 from $375, noting Apple’s robust year-over-year revenue growth and strong demand for iPhone 16 and 17. These developments reflect a range of analyst perspectives on Apple’s recent performance and future prospects.
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