Apple Stock Trending as Analysts Eye Upside

Apple (AAPL) stock has slipped 0.8% over the past week and is down just over 5% over the last month, but it remains up a solid 11.5% over the past year. Despite this recent pullback, Wall Street’s analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus on the stock, with an average 12‑month price target of $299.49 compared to a last closing price of $260.25. That implies meaningful upside potential ahead as investors look past short-term volatility toward Apple’s next wave of product and services growth.

Among the voices backing Apple is top-ranked analyst Wamsi Mohan of Bank of America, who reiterated his Buy rating on January 12, 2026 and set a price objective of $325.00. From the current level, Mohan’s target points to substantial upside, reflecting confidence that Apple can deliver better‑than‑expected results and re-rate higher. Mohan is no fringe observer: he ranks 110 out of 11,984 analysts tracked, with a success rate of 62.37% and an average return of 25.10% per rating, making his call particularly noteworthy for investors.

Mohan’s bullish stance is driven by what he calls a “bullish setup into earnings” for Apple’s fiscal first quarter of 2026 (December quarter). He expects revenues slightly above company guidance, helped by continued strong iPhone sales and double-digit growth in Services revenue. His estimates call for F1Q revenue of $140 billion and EPS of $2.69, versus the Street’s $138 billion and $2.67, and revenue growth of 13% year over year compared with Apple’s own 10–12% guidance. Looking ahead, he anticipates Apple will guide fiscal second-quarter revenue growth of around 10% year over year, with gross margins improving sequentially as the mix of higher-margin Services increases.

A key driver of Mohan’s optimism is iPhone demand. He has raised his iPhone unit forecast for the December quarter by 2 million to 85 million units, and for the March quarter by 1 million to 54 million units, citing ongoing strength in demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. He now models iPhone revenue in F1Q growing 17% year over year, which would mark one of the strongest quarters ever for Apple’s flagship product. Upcoming catalysts include the expected launch of a foldable iPhone in the fall and an enhanced Siri integrated with Gemini AI, both of which he believes could fuel a new upgrade cycle and help shift investor sentiment, especially as Apple remains underweight in many portfolios.

On margins, Mohan sees several levers that could offset pressures such as higher memory costs. Apple’s F1Q gross margin guidance of 47–48% includes $1.4 billion of tariff-related costs, which could become a tailwind if the actual impact is lower. Over time, he believes gross margins can exceed 50%, supported by Apple’s supply chain relationships, a higher mix of premium iPhone models, and pricing power if competitors like Samsung move prices higher. He also sees upside in Services margins from insourcing more work to Apple’s own data centers, running Apple Intelligence on its own cloud and silicon, scaling the business, exercising pricing power in first‑party services, and increasing the attach rate of AppleCare+. Reflecting these factors, Mohan nudged his fiscal 2026 revenue and EPS forecasts slightly higher to $463 billion and $8.26 respectively, while keeping his $325 price objective based on 32x his calendar 2027 EPS estimate.

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