Apple Earnings Preview: AI, Memory Crunch in Focus As Tim Cook Era Ends
Tim Cook will preside over the last earnings call as Apple’s CEO on Thursday, and he’ll be heading out on top, with the stock surging in 2026 and jockeying for position as the largest company in the world by market cap.
Cook has been CEO since 2011, leading Apple through massive share-price growth as the firm expanded its iPhone business and introduced products like Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
On Thursday, investors will be listening in to hear about what the firm sees going forward, with John Ternus set to take over on September 1.
After being criticized by Wall Street for a its lack of a clear AI strategy, investors have rewarded it this year amid growing skittishness around the AI trade. Apple stock is up 26% year-to-date, the top performer in the Magnificent Seven.
Some major themes investors will be watching for on Thursday include the company’s exact pricing for the iPhone 18, rising memory costs, the Apple Upgrade program, and the firm’s approach to AI.
Here’s what Wall Street analysts are saying about the stock heading into earnings.
Bank of America
In a note on Tuesday, Bank of America highlighted Apple Upgrade, which Apple announced earlier this week. The new offering allows customers to lease products like iPhones, Apple Watches, and iPads on monthly payment plans.
“In our view, Apple Upgrade is directionally positive, with potential upside from lower affordability friction, premium mix, faster replacement cycles, greater direct engagement and residual-value monetization,” Wamsi Mohan, an analyst at the bank, said in a July 28 note.
Look for Apple to offer any clues on the program’s potential on Thursday.
Bank of America has a “Buy” rating on Apple, and a price objective of $380 a share, implying about 11% upside from current levels.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman expects Apple to post 18% year-over-year revenue growth, beating Wall Street’s 15% estimate, thanks in part to strong iPhone and Mac sales. The bank sees an earnings beat of $1.93 per share compared to the $1.89 consensus.
Goldman has a “Buy” rating on the stock, and said they expect the company’s services offerings like iCloud+ and AppleCare+ to be a leading driver of its growth going forward.
“The majority of gross profit growth over the next 5-years should be driven by Services, which should mark an inflection point in the Services investment narrative and support AAPL’s premium multiple,” Michael Ng, an analyst at the bank, said in a July 27 note.
The bank’s price target for the stock is $370 a share.
Morningstar
Dave Sekera, Morningstar’s chief US market strategist, said in an email that Apple would be the “least interesting” of all the mega-cap firms this earnings season, as they’ve largely stayed out of the AI conversation.
He said the main questions around the firm would be how they can offset rising memory costs, and whether their higher iPhone 18 prices will cause a spike in buying of the iPhone 17.
But Sekera still wants to hear from the company on its AI strategy.
“With Apple, I think we need a better discussion of what they think AI use cases are going to be,” he said. “Apple has steered clear of capex spending on the AI buildout boom, which I think will probably serve them well over the longer term, but for now, we’re still not really understanding Apple’s killer case for AI that will drive a lot of new economic value for individual users.”
Jefferies
Jefferies thinks Apple’s stock has downside over the next 12 months, with its base-case price target of $308.92 a share, implying about 9.6% downside.
The bank said it expects Apple to have missed on gross margins last quarter, and that memory costs are going to be a problem for margins going forward.
“Although AAPL’s premium iPhone roadmap and ability to raise prices would partly offset higher memory costs, margin is on the downside,” said Edison Lee, an analyst, in a July 27 client note.
