Here's What Analysts Are Forecasting For Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) After Its Second-Quarter Results

Investors in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had a good week, as its shares rose 4.7% to close at US$182 following the release of its second-quarter results. Apple reported US$91b in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.53 beat expectations, being 2.1% higher than what the analysts expected. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Apple

Following last week's earnings report, Apple's 43 analysts are forecasting 2024 revenues to be US$386.9b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory per-share earnings are expected to be US$6.57, roughly flat on the last 12 months. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$387.3b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.54 in 2024. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$203, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. The most optimistic Apple analyst has a price target of US$250 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$125. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Apple's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 2.8% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 9.8% p.a. growth over the last five years. Compare this against other companies (with analyst forecasts) in the industry, which are in aggregate expected to see revenue growth of 6.0% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than Apple.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Apple's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have forecasts for Apple going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Apple that you should be aware of.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.