What Analysts Think of Apple Stock Ahead of Earnings

Apple (AAPL) is set to report fiscal first-quarter results after the closing bell Thursday, with analysts watching for signs the iPhone maker’s stock can recover from a tough start to 2025.

Of the 16 analysts covering the stock tracked by Visible Alpha, 10 have issued “buy” or equivalent ratings, with four giving the stock a “hold” rating, and two giving it “sell” ratings. Their consensus price target near $246 would suggest about 7% upside from Monday’s closing price.

Apple is projected to report fiscal first-quarter revenue of $124.39 billion, up 4% year-over-year, with iPhone revenue growing 2% to $70.72 billion. Earnings are expected to climb to $35.63 billion, or $2.35 per share, up from $33.92 billion, or $2.18 per share a year ago.

China Competition and Apple Intelligence Rollout Raise Concerns

Apple’s stock price has fallen about 8% since the start of the year, thanks in part to concerns about falling smartphone shipments in China. Domestic rivals Vivo and Huawei have expanded their market share, according to research firm Canalys, particularly as iPhones sold in China aren’t equipped with Apple Intelligence features due to regulatory hurdles.

JPMorgan analysts sounded the alarm over the company’s performance in the country earlier this month, warning Apple is “already past its product cycle peak” and could continue to lose market share in the country. The firm cut its price target to $260 from $265.

Wedbush, which holds a $325 price target for Apple, suggested there could be time for a turnaround in China, especially if the company announces an AI partner in the region in the coming months. The analysts said the most like scenario would be a partnership with Baidu (BIDU), the dominant internet search engine company in China, with ByteDance and Tencent as other possibilities.

Apple Stands Out Amid DeepSeek-Driven Selloff Monday

While a slew of AI-related stocks tumbled Monday on worries about the surging popularity of AI tools from Chinese startup DeepSeek and what it could mean for U.S. rivals, Apple was one of the few Big Tech stocks in the green. That could be due to Apple’s lower AI expenditures relative to its mega-cap peers like Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT). The relative efficiency of DeepSeek’s models also gave way to speculation Apple’s AI trajectory could prove less challenging and expensive than previously anticipated.

Apple released a software update on Monday as well, that enables Apple Intelligence features on iPhone, iPad and Mac devices by default for users with supported devices. The move marks a key step in Apple’s rollout of AI features.

Shares of Apple rose 3.2% to $229.86 Monday, and have gained about 20% over the past 12 months.