Apple earnings: Tim Cook is heading out on top as stock surges to lead the Mag 7 in 2026

Apple will report earnings after the closing bell on Thursday. As Tim Cook prepares to step down as CEO, AAPL stock leads the Magnificent 7 in 2026.

Apple's fiscal third-quarter results are Tim Cook's last as CEO, and he's going out on a high note.

As the rest of the Magnificent Seven companies struggle with questions about what all of their AI capex is actually for, Apple has largely sidestepped the debate this year by focusing on their core offerings: consumer hardware.

The stock is the best performer in the elite group of mega-cap tech names this year, up 25%. The company topped a $5 trillion market cap for the first time earlier this week before falling slightly.

Apple's outlook has some challenges, though.

Cook said earlier this year that Apple was raising prices to offset the supply crunch in memory hardware, and the move could impact demand for new devices. The iPhone was left out of Apple's recent price hikes, but Apple is widely expected to boost prices in September with the new lineup as it faces cost pressures on its famously high gross margin. The company could provide signal on possible iPhone price hikes on the earnings call.

Investors are also going to want to hear at least some update about the company's AI plans, even though Apple is not quite a capex story like other tech giants.

Apple will publish its results around 4:30 p.m. ET after the closing bell. The call with analysts will begin around 5 p.m. ET.

Wall Street expects Q3 revenue of $108.85 billion, EPS of $1.89

Third quarter

  • Revenue estimate $108.85 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)
  • Products revenue estimate $77.25 billion
  • IPhone revenue estimate $53.6 billion
  • Mac revenue estimate $8.62 billion
  • IPad revenue estimate $6.89 billion
  • Wearables, home and accessories estimate $7.87 billion
  • Services revenue estimate $31.36 billion
  • Greater China rev. estimate $19.58 billion
  • Americas rev. estimate $45.42 billion
  • Europe revenue estimate $27.58 billion
  • Japan revenue estimate $7.49 billion
  • Rest of Asia Pacific revenue estimate $8.71 billion
  • EPS estimate $1.89
  • Total operating expenses estimate $18.96 billion
  • Research and development operating expenses estimate $11.57
    billion
  • SG&A operating expense estimate $7.38 billion
  • Gross margin estimate $52.13 billion
  • Cash and cash equivalents estimate $53.15 billion
  • Cost of sales estimate $56.45 billion
  • Total current assets estimate $153.38 billion

Total current liabilities estimate $138.32 billion

Fourth quarter

  • Capital expenditure estimate $3.56 billion
  • Operating expense estimate $19.14 billion

    Year
  • Capital expenditure estimate $12.33 billion

Source: Bloomberg

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