Wedbush Has Pessimistic Outlook of Apple Q3 Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Apple in a note issued to investors on Sunday, April 13th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now anticipates that the iPhone maker will earn $1.35 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.55. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective 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 $1.63 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.43 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.81 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.50 EPS.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.79 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $220.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 10.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.