AAPL
Apple Inc.
AAPL has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
NIQ
NIQ Global Intelligence Plc
NIQ has the edge over AAPL overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
AAPL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
AAPL's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
NIQ Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure |
NIQ's cash flow is currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its profitability and balance sheet are under pressure.
AAPL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 26x | $230 | -35% |
| Fair | 31x | $279 | -21% |
| Expensive | 37x | $328 | -7.5% |
| Forward | 38x | $355 | — |
| Current | 40x | $355 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
AAPL's PE is in its expensive range at 40x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 38x next year's earnings.
NIQ PE Valuation
NIQ has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
AAPL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for AAPL, but weaker profitability.
NIQ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
NIQ has the edge over AAPL on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
AAPL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.28 | +3.3% |
| Q3 2026 | $8.98 | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.71 | +32% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.26 | +29% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.90 | +25% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.46 | +23% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.59 | +0.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.42 | -0.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.30 | -2% |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ in the latest year-over-year earnings comparison.
NIQ Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.26 | — |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.75 | -$0.68 |
| Q4 2024 | -$2.97 | -$1.22 |
NIQ lost $0.40 per share over the past year, a smaller loss than the year before.
AAPL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $114.5B | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $109.4B | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $111.2B | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $143.8B | +16% |
| Q3 2025 | $102.5B | +7.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $94B | +9.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $95.4B | +5.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $124.3B | +4% |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 31% | -0.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 33% | +2.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 32% | +1.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 35% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 32% | +0.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 30% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 31% | +0.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 34% | +0.7 points |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
NIQ Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.1B | +6.3% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1B | +8% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.1B | +1.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.1B | -1.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.1B | -13% |
| Q2 2025 | $1B | +5.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.1B | +2.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.2B | -4.8% |
NIQ's revenue grew through 2024 and has held roughly level since: $1.1B last quarter, up 6.3% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.5% | +13 points |
| Q2 2026 | 5.8% | +2 points |
| Q1 2026 | -0.9% | -3.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 5.7% | -6.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | -3.3% | -6.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3.8% | +6.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 2.2% | +5.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | +1.3 points |
NIQ's operating margin was 9.5% last quarter, up 13 points from the same quarter a year ago.
AAPL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $25.9B | -2.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $31.9B | +31% |
| Q1 2026 | $26.7B | +28% |
| Q4 2025 | $51.6B | +91% |
| Q3 2025 | $26.5B | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $24.4B | -8.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $20.9B | +0.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $27B | -28% |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ in the latest year-over-year cash flow comparison.
NIQ Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $247M | -6.7% |
| Q1 2026 | -$66.8M | +$105M |
| Q4 2025 | $173.2M | +220% |
| Q3 2025 | $264.8M | +369% |
| Q1 2025 | -$171.8M | -$17.2M |
NIQ generated $489M in free cash flow over the past year, up 140% from the year before.
AAPL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +5.6M shares |
| 1 year | -1.9% | -284M shares |
| 3 years | -6.9% | -1.1B shares |
| 5 years | -13% | -2.1B shares |
| Available history | -17% | -3.1B shares |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $24.3B |
| Q2 2026 | $25.1B |
| Q1 2026 | $12.3B |
| Q4 2025 | $24.7B |
| Q3 2025 | $20.1B |
| Q2 2025 | $21.1B |
| Q1 2025 | $25.9B |
| Q4 2024 | $23.6B |
AAPL spent $86.4B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 4.8% from the year before.
NIQ Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.5% | +1.3M shares |
| 1 year | +5.1% | +14.4M shares |
| 3 years | +0.5% | +1.4M shares |
NIQ has 296M diluted shares, up 5.1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
AAPL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.5x | Very low |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
NIQ Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 4.3x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.6x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 4.4x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 5.4x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 8.2x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 11.4x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 11.1x | High |
NIQ's net debt is about 3.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 5.3 years a year ago.
AAPL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 68.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 85.0 | Overbought |
AAPL's weekly RSI is 68 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 85 (overbought).
NIQ Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 88.9 | Overbought |
NIQ's weekly RSI is 62 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 89 (overbought).
AAPL PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | AAPL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 40x | 28x | 42% above |
| PE % | 96 | 35 | 61 pts above |
AAPL is trading at 40x earnings, a 42% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
NIQ PE vs Technology Sector
NIQ has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
AAPL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $343.1 | 3.4% above |
| 20 week MA | $329.0 | 7.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $295.6 | 20% above |
| 100 week MA | $262.4 | 35% above |
| 200 week MA | $226.3 | 57% above |
NIQ has stronger trend alignment. AAPL is above 5 of 5 weekly averages versus NIQ above 3 of 3.
NIQ Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $18.8 | 2.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $16.3 | 18% above |
| 50 week MA | $13.9 | 39% above |
NIQ is in an uptrend: it's above all three of its weekly moving averages, and 39% above its 50-week average.
AAPL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $72.5 | $132.0 | +82% |
| 2021 | $132.0 | $176.3 | +34% |
| 2022 | $176.3 | $131.9 | -25% |
| 2023 | $131.9 | $192.5 | +46% |
| 2024 | $192.5 | $255.6 | +33% |
| 2025 | $255.6 | $273.4 | +7% |
| 2026 YTD | $273.4 | $354.9 | +30% |
AAPL has the edge over NIQ on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NIQ Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $19.7 | $16.4 | -17% |
| 2026 YTD | $16.4 | $19.2 | +17% |
NIQ has finished every year since 2025 lower, and it's up 17% so far in 2026.