Apple is currently selling for a slight premium, at 34 times earnings, which is justified given its long-term track record of growth. Furthermore, the trifecta of new iPhone features, a revamp for Siri, and new AI-powered functionality could be just the catalyst Apple needs to spark its next big upgrade cycle and the stock’s next move higher. Its ecosystem, including iOS, macOS, and iCloud, offers a highly integrated user experience. This encourages customers to buy more Apple products and services, leading to higher customer retention. Apple also invests in new products like augmented reality devices, which could open up new growth areas. But, like any stock, investing in Apple comes with both benefits and risks.
Leo Sun is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst who Should i buy apple stock has worked with the company since 2013, covering technology, consumer goods, industrial, and financial sectors. He became a self-made millionaire by age 40 through long-term investing, crediting lessons from Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. Leo is a regular guest on CNBC Asia providing stock analysis on Chinese technology companies, including Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba.
Apple beat the S&P 500 over the last decade – the $89,144 was 239% of the amount returned from investing $10,000 in the S&P 500 with dividends reinvested. If you had invested $10,000 in Apple stock on August 21, 2015, and did not reinvest any dividends, your investment would be worth approximately $85,893 on August 22, 2025. If you had reinvested the dividends received over the same period, your investment would have grown to roughly $89,144. Apple has had five stock splits in its history – the most recent of which happened August 31, 2020. On that day, each share of Apple was converted from one share trading at $499.23 to four shares each of which traded at $124.81, according to Pocket Option. In the two weeks prior to the latest stock split, Apple shares rose about 8% as investors anticipated the stock would rise.
But over the past three years, Apple’s stock only rose 51% as the S&P 500 advanced 63%. It underperformed the market as investors fretted over its sluggish iPhone sales, the Trump administration’s unpredictable tariffs against China, and its lackluster artificial intelligence (AI) strategies. Dividend reinvestment only accounted for about 8% of the total return of Apple stock. Specifically, dividend reinvestment added 68 percentage points to the total return of Apple’s stock – from 815% (with no reinvestment) to 883%. Compared to the S&P 500 Apple has delivered a higher return on a hypothetical $10,000 investment made a decade ago.
ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities. The stock’s sharp gain on Wednesday puts it up about 21% over the last three months. With such a steep gain in the rearview mirror, many investors are likely taking a close look at the tech stock to see whether it’s a buy, sell, or hold.
Furthermore, the new AI-driven features represent a compelling incentive for consumers to upgrade. Another issue that has pressured Apple stock is the monumental sale by longtime shareholder and advocate Warren Buffett. The famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO has sold Apple shares for three consecutive quarters, unloading roughly 56% of his shares. This from the guy who just last year said, “It just happens to be a better business than any we own.” Buffett suggested the sales were made for tax reasons, but that didn’t stop fair-weather investors from heading for the exits.
Over its fiscal 2024 (ended Sep.28), the company reported $391 billion in revenue, with over half of these sales coming from the iPhone segment. Ten years ago, the company was generating under $200 billion in revenue. There’s little question that Apple (AAPL 0.64%) has been a long-term winner for shareholders.
The larger size also gives the Air 15-inch M4 slightly better sustained performance due to superior thermal management, so sustained tasks like photo or video editing will go quicker on the bigger Air. The larger screen makes the Air 15-inch M4 a better option for those who need to work with data or any content that benefits from a little more screen real estate. The Apple M4 chip is more than up to most tasks that you are likely to throw at it. Whether you are a professional, a student, or just someone who wants an outstanding laptop for around the house, the 13-inch Air M4 will juggle apps and browser tabs without a stutter. Now, starting with 16GB of RAM, I can confidently recommend even the cheapest configuration for just $999.
The biggest considerations with the Air 13-inch M4 are the price if you need to upgrade much from the $999 base model or performance if you are doing extensive photo and video editing or other intensive tasks. The MacBook Air 15-inch M4 is the answer for prospective MacBook buyers who want a larger display without spending over $2,500. It offers the same benefits as the 13-inch model with a slight performance boost for tasks like video editing.
The design is the one thing that has remained largely unchanged since the original launch in 2021, but it’s not outdated yet. That’s a solid value, particularly when you consider that getting a MacBook with a 15-inch+ display has historically cost you $2,500 or more. It’s also still worth noting that Apple bumped all MacBooks to a base 16GB of RAM now, which was formerly a $200 upgrade we recommended on the MacBook Air. While battery life is roughly flat with the 13-inch Air M4, both come in over 15 hours, so there should be no complaints. Apple also isn’t taxing you too hard for the larger display, with the Air 15-inch M4 starting at $1,199 compared to $999 for the 13-inch model, both having received a $100 price cut compared to their predecessors. The new M4-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro levels up again with more performance and battery life.
The information asymmetry that once favored institutional investors has largely disappeared, replaced by a landscape where technological sophistication determines advantage. High-resolution satellite imagery of Apple Stores across 519 global locations provides foot traffic analysis with 92.7% accuracy. This data shows 77.8% correlation with quarterly sales, with California stores serving as leading indicators for global trends. More impressively, night-time lumens analysis of Foxconn manufacturing facilities demonstrates 83.2% correlation with iPhone production volumes, providing 47-day advance warning of supply constraints.