AAPL
Apple Inc.
AAPL has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
VERX
Vertex, Inc.
VERX 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.
VERX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable |
VERX's revenue and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is stable, but its profitability is 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.
VERX PE Valuation
VERX 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.
VERX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
VERX 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 VERX on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
VERX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.99 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.28 | +$0.06 |
| Q2 2026 | $0.03 | +$0.35 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.04 | +$0.24 |
| Q4 2025 | $0.05 | +$0.38 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.34 | -270% |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.32 | -346% |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.28 | -660% |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.33 | -$0.24 |
VERX is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.28 per share over the past year, against $0.57 at its worst in late 2020.
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's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $114B last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| 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 VERX on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
VERX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $213.3M | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $204M | +11% |
| Q1 2026 | $196.6M | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $194.7M | +9.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $192.1M | +13% |
| Q2 2025 | $184.6M | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $177.1M | +13% |
| Q4 2024 | $178.5M | +15% |
VERX has the edge over AAPL on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.1% | -2.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | -2.2% | -0.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | -1.5% | -4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8% | +8.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 2.3% | -0.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | -2.1% | -6.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 2.5% | +3.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | -7.3% | -5.7 points |
VERX's operating margin was 0.1% last quarter, down 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 has the edge over VERX on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
VERX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $53.2M | +76% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.6M | -46% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.7M | +$19.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $10.1M | -44% |
| Q3 2025 | $30.2M | +64% |
| Q2 2025 | $19.6M | -47% |
| Q1 2025 | -$12.3M | -372% |
| Q4 2024 | $17.9M | -38% |
VERX generated $82M in free cash flow over the past year, up 47% 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 VERX 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.
VERX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.5% | +876K shares |
| 1 year | +0.1% | +96.8K shares |
| 3 years | +6.7% | +10.2M shares |
| 5 years | +9.5% | +14.1M shares |
| Available history | +25% | +32.6M shares |
VERX has 162M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $27.1M |
| Q2 2026 | $26.6M |
| Q1 2026 | $20M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
VERX spent $74M buying back its own shares over the past year, after none 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 has the edge over VERX on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
VERX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.5x | Very low |
VERX's net debt is about 2.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year 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).
VERX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 65.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 89.0 | Overbought |
VERX's weekly RSI is 66 (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 has the edge over VERX on valuation relative to its sector.
VERX PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | VERX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 501x | 28x | 1,697% above |
| PE % | 74 | 37 | 37 pts above |
VERX 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 |
AAPL has the edge over VERX on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
VERX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $14.4 | 23% above |
| 20 week MA | $13.4 | 32% above |
| 50 week MA | $14.3 | 24% above |
| 100 week MA | $24.8 | 28% below |
| 200 week MA | $26.6 | 33% below |
VERX has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 33% below 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 VERX on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
VERX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $23.6 | $34.1 | +45% |
| 2021 | $34.1 | $17.1 | -50% |
| 2022 | $17.1 | $14.8 | -13% |
| 2023 | $14.8 | $26.9 | +82% |
| 2024 | $26.9 | $52.7 | +96% |
| 2025 | $52.7 | $20.3 | -61% |
| 2026 YTD | $20.3 | $17.8 | -13% |
VERX has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 13% so far in 2026.