AAPL
Apple Inc.
AAPL trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
NTCT
NetScout Systems, Inc.
NTCT 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.
NTCT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
NTCT's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently strong, and its revenue is stable.
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.
NTCT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 12x | $32.55 | — |
| Current | 18x | $32.55 | — |
| Cheap | 24x | $42.31 | +30% |
| Fair | 43x | $75.24 | +131% |
| Expensive | 111x | $196 | +501% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NTCT has the edge over AAPL in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
AAPL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for AAPL, but weaker profitability.
NTCT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
NTCT has the edge over AAPL on the outlook, with more favorable valuation and 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 earned $8.98 per share over the past year, up 20% from the year before.
NTCT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.76 | +57% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.76 | +41% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.64 | +59% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.30 | +$6.42 |
| Q4 2025 | $1.33 | +$7.16 |
| Q3 2025 | $1.25 | +$9.62 |
| Q2 2025 | $1.03 | +$9.24 |
| Q1 2025 | -$5.12 | -$3.05 |
| Q4 2024 | -$5.83 | -$4.15 |
NTCT earned $1.76 per share over the past year, up 41% from 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 NTCT 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 NTCT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
NTCT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $222.2M | +1.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $210.4M | +13% |
| Q1 2026 | $203M | -1% |
| Q4 2025 | $250.7M | -0.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $219M | +15% |
| Q2 2025 | $186.7M | +7% |
| Q1 2025 | $205M | +0.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $252M | +16% |
NTCT's revenue fell from its 2022 peak and has held roughly level since: $222M last quarter, up 1.4% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | +2.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 6.9% | +10 points |
| Q1 2026 | 9.7% | 0 points |
| Q4 2025 | 26% | +1.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 15% | +7.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | -3.5% | +262 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9.7% | +28 points |
| Q4 2024 | 24% | +86 points |
NTCT's operating margin was 17% last quarter, up 2.1 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's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $136B over the past year, up 38% from the year before.
NTCT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$15.8M | -457% |
| Q2 2026 | $47.3M | -34% |
| Q1 2026 | $150.1M | +7.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $59.3M | +50% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.4M | +$9M |
| Q2 2025 | $71.7M | +93% |
| Q1 2025 | $140.1M | +52% |
| Q4 2024 | $39.6M | +211% |
NTCT has the edge over AAPL on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 NTCT 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.
NTCT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.9% | -660K shares |
| 1 year | +1.4% | +1M shares |
| 3 years | +1.6% | +1.1M shares |
| 5 years | -1.5% | -1.2M shares |
| Available history | -1% | -763K shares |
NTCT has 74M diluted shares, up 1.4% from a year ago, despite $106M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $77M |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $29.2M |
| Q4 2025 | $1,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $16.6M |
| Q2 2025 | $15M |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
NTCT spent $106M buying back its own shares over the past year, about three times what it spent the year before.
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's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
NTCT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -3.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -3.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -3.2x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -3.2x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2023 | -1.1x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2023 | -1.4x | Net Cash |
NTCT has the edge over AAPL on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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).
NTCT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 38.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 18.1 | Oversold |
NTCT's weekly RSI is 39 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 18 (oversold).
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.
NTCT PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NTCT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 18x | 28x | 34% below |
| PE % | 0 | 35 | 35 pts below |
NTCT has the edge over AAPL on valuation relative to its sector.
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 |
AAPL has the edge over NTCT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NTCT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $37.7 | 14% below |
| 20 week MA | $38.9 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $35.0 | 7% below |
| 100 week MA | $29.2 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $26.6 | 22% above |
NTCT has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 22% above its 200-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 NTCT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NTCT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $24.0 | $27.7 | +15% |
| 2021 | $27.7 | $33.2 | +20% |
| 2022 | $33.2 | $32.6 | -1.8% |
| 2023 | $32.6 | $22.0 | -33% |
| 2024 | $22.0 | $21.7 | -1.4% |
| 2025 | $21.7 | $27.9 | +29% |
| 2026 YTD | $27.9 | $32.6 | +17% |
NTCT has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's up 17% so far in 2026.