Apple Stock Price Holds Steady at $305 Amid Strong Earnings Report

Apple's stock price has stabilized around $305 after a noticeable correction from its July highs. The company's strong earnings report for fiscal Q3, which beat Wall Street expectations, provided support for the stock. Apple's revenue increased by 16% year-over-year to $109.4 billion, while diluted earnings per share rose 29% to $2.02.

The iPhone performed particularly strongly, with revenue of around $54.3 billion and growth of approximately 22%. Services generated $30.7 billion in revenue. However, part of the improvement in results was linked to the return of U.S. tariffs, which added around $0.11 to EPS and approximately 2 percentage points to gross margin.

The main obstacle to a more confident recovery in Apple's stock remains the outlook for the September quarter. Apple expects revenue growth of around 9-11%, which is lower than analysts had expected. Management linked the more cautious outlook primarily to limited supply of advanced processors and memory, as well as unfavorable currency effects.

The combination of Apple's high valuation and a weaker outlook led some analysts to revise their recommendations. For example, Jefferies downgraded Apple to Underperform and cut its price target to $264. However, the broader consensus remains noticeably more optimistic, with an average analyst price target at around $322.