NEW YORK, August 4, 2026, 07:00 EDT — U.S. premarket trading update.
- Apple ended Monday at $303.42, marking a four-day losing streak that wiped roughly $503 billion from its market capitalization.
- Refunds from tariffs made up $0.11 per share out of the $0.13 headline earnings beat.
- Among major mega-cap peers, Apple continued to hold the largest trailing earnings multiple.
Apple Inc. NASDAQ:AAPL traded lower in Tuesday’s premarket, following a fourth consecutive session of declines. On Monday, the stock dropped 1.78% to close at $303.42, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.13% that day.
The divergence caused Apple to fall behind Nvidia Corp. NASDAQ:NVDA and Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ:GOOGL in market capitalization. It also intensified a key question among investors: how sustainable was Apple’s earnings outperformance?
Apple posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of $2.02 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus of $1.89. The company’s $0.13 earnings beat was aided by $0.11 in tariff refunds, which accounted for approximately 85% of the reported earnings difference.
| Fiscal Q3 metric | Reported | Ex-refund calculation | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diluted EPS | $2.02 | $1.91 | $1.89 consensus |
| EPS beat | 6.9% | 1.1% | — |
| Gross margin | 50.1% | 48.1% | 46.5% prior year |
The ex-refund estimates derive from Apple’s reported $0.11 EPS gain and a gross-margin boost of about two percentage points. Apple has not released adjusted EPS.
Based on those figures, Apple surpassed consensus by approximately 1.1%. Core gross margin saw a firmer performance, staying around 1.6 percentage points higher than the same period a year earlier.
Revenue climbed 16.4% to $109.42 billion, showing a strong top-line performance. CEO Tim Cook described the result as Apple’s “strongest June quarter ever.” Apple
| Revenue line | Q3 FY2026 | Year-on-year | Sales share | Prior-year share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | $54.25 billion | +21.7% | 49.6% | 47.4% |
| Services | $30.74 billion | +12.1% | 28.1% | 29.2% |
| Mac | $10.35 billion | +28.7% | 9.5% | 8.6% |
| Wearables, Home and Accessories | $7.88 billion | +6.5% | 7.2% | 7.9% |
| iPad | $6.19 billion | -5.9% | 5.7% | 7.0% |
Apple’s published segment revenue serves as the basis for growth and sales-share calculations.
Growth was driven by hardware. Sales of iPhone and Mac outpaced overall revenue growth. Services remained up, but its contribution to sales fell to 28.1% from 29.2%.
Services revenue came in below the $31.22 billion analyst forecast reported by Reuters. According to D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria, “services growth was slowing.” Reuters
Guidance shifted attention ahead. Apple projected revenue growth of 9% to 11% for the current quarter. Analysts on Wall Street had anticipated roughly 12%. Cook called supply constraints “very significant.” Reuters
| Growth measure | Latest quarter | Current-quarter Apple outlook | Wall Street estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | +16.4% | +9% to +11% | +12.0% |
| iPhone revenue | +21.7% | Mid-teens percentage | +17.6% |
Apple’s stock price fell, but its valuation premium remained intact. Shares continued to trade at 34.8 times trailing earnings, above all listed peers, including the bigger Nvidia.
| Company | Monday close | Monday move | Market value | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. NASDAQ:AAPL | $303.42 | down 1.8% | $4.46 trillion | 34.8x |
| Nvidia Corp. NASDAQ:NVDA | $206.64 | up 2.9% | $5.04 trillion | 31.5x |
| Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ:GOOGL | $373.51 | up 4.9% | $4.57 trillion | 18.8x |
| Microsoft Corp. NASDAQ:MSFT | $487.65 | up 4.9% | $3.63 trillion | 29.0x |
| Amazon.com Inc. NASDAQ:AMZN | $284.02 | up 4.6% | $3.10 trillion | 22.8x |
Recent analyst notes mirrored the unease. DZ Bank’s Ingo Wermann lowered Apple to Hold, maintaining a $310 fair value estimate. Helena Wang at Phillip Securities switched to Reduce, setting a price target at $290. These targets indicate possible gains of 2.2% and potential losses of 4.4% from Monday’s market close.
Risks: Supply may rebound more quickly than forecast, although September pricing might help maintain margins. Potential downside includes more severe component shortages, a deceleration in services growth, regulatory challenges, and the absence of the previous tariff-refund advantage.
Apple shares have dropped 10.8% in the last five sessions. Investors are watching for the August 10 record date for its dividend. The quarterly payout of $0.27 per share will be distributed on August 13.
Nasdaq futures rose 0.45% early Tuesday, signalling a stronger tone for markets. Apple faces a more specific challenge. Will a price-to-earnings ratio near 35 be sustained after a core EPS beat of just around 1%?
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