The Finance Class

Business and stocks, explained in simple words.

Tag: Apple

  • Apple Reports Today and New Boss John Ternus Faces His First Big Test

    Apple Reports Today and New Boss John Ternus Faces His First Big Test

    Introduction
    Apple will share its new money report today, Monday, November 2, 2026. This is a big day for Apple. It is also a big day for its new boss, John Ternus. This will be his first money report call as the top boss. People will listen to every word he says.

    What Happened
    Apple will tell the world how much money it made in its fourth quarter. A quarter is a three-month part of the year. The report will come after the stock market closes. Then Apple will hold a call at 5 p.m. Eastern time. On the call, Apple bosses will talk about the numbers and answer questions.

    John Ternus took over as chief executive on December 31, 2025. Chief executive means the top boss of a company. Tim Cook was the boss before him. Now Ternus must lead Apple in a new time. He has worked at Apple for a long time. He helped make iPhones and other products.

    Why It Happened
    Apple must share its numbers four times a year. This helps people who own a small piece of Apple see how the company is doing. Stock means a small piece of a company. People who own stock are called shareholders. They want to know if the company is growing.

    This report is special. It covers the start of the new iPhone 18 Pro. The new phone was on sale for only nine days in this quarter. So this report will not show a full three months of sales for that phone. It will show a small taste.

    Why It Matters
    Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world. Many people use its phones, computers, and watches. Its numbers can move the whole stock market. If Apple does well, other tech stocks may rise too. If Apple does badly, other stocks may fall.

    People will also watch what Ternus says about the future. They want to know his plan. They want to know about new phones, new computers, and new ideas. His words can change how people feel about Apple.

    Key Figures

    • Expected total sales: $113.39 billion.
    • Sales last year in the same quarter: $102.5 billion.
    • That would be a rise of about 11 percent.
    • Expected profit for each share: $1.99. A share is one small piece of a company.
    • Expected iPhone sales: $56.59 billion.
    • Expected sales from services: $30.35 billion. Services are things like music, TV, and cloud storage.
    • Expected sales from Mac computers: $9.44 billion.

    What Happens Next
    After the report, people will check the real numbers. They will compare them with the expected numbers. If the real numbers are higher, people may be happy. If they are lower, people may worry. Then Ternus and other bosses will answer questions on the call. In the next quarter, the iPhone 18 Pro will have a full three months of sales. That report will give a much clearer picture.

    Final Thoughts
    Today is a first test, not a final grade. Ternus has a strong company to lead. He also has high hopes to meet. The numbers today will tell part of the story. The plan he shares will tell another part. We will watch both.

    Read our earlier post about Apple and Palantir reporting this week: https://thefinanceclass.wordpress.com/2026/11/01/apple-palantir-earnings-week-ahead-midterms-jobs/

    Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

    Sources: CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/02/apple-aapl-q4-2026-earnings-live-updates.html ; AppleScoop, https://applescoop.org/story/apple-q4-2026-earnings-november-2-time-what-to-expect-how-to-listen

  • Apple and Palantir Report Monday in a Huge Week for Stocks, Elections and Jobs

    Apple and Palantir Report Monday in a Huge Week for Stocks, Elections and Jobs

    After a brutal week for tech stocks, the next five days could decide whether the sell-off continues or starts to calm down. Apple and Palantir report earnings on Monday, Americans vote in midterm elections on Tuesday, and the October jobs report arrives on Friday. In between, more than 100 big companies report results.

    Here is what to watch, day by day, in plain terms.

    What Happened Last Week

    On Friday, October 30, 2026, the Nasdaq fell 2.86% to 25,437.00, its worst day since June. The S&P 500 fell 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow dropped 1.09% to 51,770.31. For the full week, the S&P 500 lost 0.58%, the Nasdaq fell 2% and the Dow gave up 0.85%.

    The main trigger was earnings: Amazon and Intel disappointed investors, Alphabet had already fallen sharply, and worries about how much tech companies are spending on AI spread across the whole sector. The semiconductor ETF SOXX dropped 9.1% on Friday alone.

    CNBC host Jim Cramer summed up the mood on Friday: “After a brutal week for tech, don’t assume the worst is behind us.” He pointed to the election, uncertainty overseas, the jobs report and another wave of earnings as reasons to stay careful.

    Monday, November 2: Apple and Palantir

    Apple reports after the market closes on Monday, the biggest name of the week. Analysts expect earnings of about $1.98 per share on revenue of about $113.3 billion, up roughly 11% from a year ago. iPhone revenue alone is expected to be around $56.5 billion, about half of total sales. Apple shares recently hit an all-time high, helped by enthusiasm for its latest products, and the stock trades at almost 40 times earnings, so there is very little room for disappointment.

    Palantir also reports Monday after the close. Analysts expect earnings of about $0.41 per share on revenue of about $2.18 billion, up more than 80% from a year ago. Cramer said he expects encouraging results, citing strong customer feedback about Palantir’s AI software. Other companies reporting Monday include Marriott, Vertex and ON Semiconductor.

    Tuesday, November 3: Elections and AMD

    Americans vote in midterm elections, with 35 Senate seats on the ballot, and AMD reports earnings after the close. AMD is expected to report revenue of about $13.1 billion and earnings of about $1.94 per share, up sharply from a year ago. As a chipmaker selling into the AI boom, its results will be read as a signal for the whole semiconductor sector, especially after Intel’s weak forecast rattled chip stocks last week. Other Tuesday names include Arista, Block, Booking Holdings, Shopify and Pfizer, plus a job openings report.

    Wednesday to Friday: A Packed Finish

    Wednesday, November 4 is the busiest earnings day, with Qualcomm, Uber, McDonald’s, Datadog, Arm, AppLovin and DoorDash among the names reporting, plus private payrolls and services data. Thursday, November 5 brings Atlassian, Cloudflare, Airbnb, ConocoPhillips and Cigna, plus weekly jobless claims and a speech from Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack.

    Friday, November 6 is the finale: the October jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, shaping expectations for the Federal Reserve’s December decision on interest rates. Moderna and Humana also report Friday. Context from CNBC’s weekly outlook: S&P 500 companies are beating earnings expectations by only 1.4% on average this season, well below the five-year average beat of 7.5%.

    Why It Matters

    There are three kinds of risk in five days — earnings risk (Apple, Palantir and AMD have to prove AI spending is paying off), political risk (midterm results could change what policies are possible in Washington), and economic risk (the jobs report could move interest-rate expectations, affecting everything from mortgages to stock valuations). The practical point is simple: expect big moves in either direction and do not read too much into any single day.

    What Happens Next

    If Apple and Palantir both beat expectations and the jobs report comes in steady, the tech sell-off could start to ease. If Apple disappoints, or jobs data surprises in either direction, volatility is likely to continue. By Friday evening, much more will be known about whether the biggest tech companies can still grow into their high valuations, whether voters changed the political picture, and whether the US job market is still holding up.

    Final Thoughts

    Weeks like this are why investing feels stressful. Focus on actual numbers — revenue, earnings and jobs — rather than noise. By Friday, those numbers will tell a clearer story than any single prediction today.

    Key figures:

    • Apple (Monday): expected EPS about $1.98, revenue about $113.3 billion
    • Palantir (Monday): expected EPS about $0.41, revenue about $2.18 billion
    • AMD (Tuesday): expected EPS about $1.94, revenue about $13.1 billion
    • Friday, October 30: Nasdaq -2.86%, S&P 500 -1.82%, Dow -1.09%
    • Friday jobs report: October employment data, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, November 6

    Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

    Sources: CNBC week-ahead outlook as reported by TradingView News (November 1, 2026) and FXEmpire; company earnings expectations via Fiscal.ai data as reported by TradingView.

  • Apple Passes Nvidia Again to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company

    Apple Passes Nvidia Again to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company

    Apple is once again the world’s most valuable company. At Friday’s close, Apple was worth $5.03 trillion, just ahead of Nvidia at $4.93 trillion — the first time Apple has held the top spot since briefly doing so in late July.

    The twist is that neither company rose on Friday. Both fell. Apple simply fell less, and in a brutal week for tech stocks, falling less was enough to take the crown.

    What Happened

    Apple shares fell 1.2% on Friday to close at $344.63, leaving the company with a market capitalisation of $5.03 trillion. Market capitalisation is just the share price multiplied by the number of shares — it is the market’s total price tag for the whole company.

    Nvidia had a worse day. Its shares sank 4.2% to $204.64, taking its market value down to $4.93 trillion. That left a gap of roughly $90 billion between the two companies — a lead that could disappear in a single volatile session.

    The change capped a bruising week for the artificial intelligence trade. The Nasdaq fell 2.9% on Friday and ended October down 5.3%, its worst month since March 2025. Chip stocks were hit especially hard: AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Micron and TSMC all fell sharply on Friday as investors questioned how quickly AI spending will pay off.

    Why It Happened

    Investors are rotating towards companies whose cash flow looks steadier and whose spending looks more restrained. Apple fits that description better than most AI-heavy names right now. Its business is built on iPhone sales and services, which bring in regular cash, and it has spent far less aggressively on AI data centres than Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon or Meta.

    Apple’s shares are up about 27% in 2026, more than twice Nvidia’s gain, making it the best performer among the so-called Magnificent Seven tech giants this year. Apple first closed above a $4 trillion valuation in October 2025 and passed $5 trillion in July 2026, powered by steady iPhone demand and its services business.

    Nvidia, by contrast, was the first company ever to reach $5 trillion, peaking near $5.7 trillion in May. Since then it has shed roughly $1 trillion in market value as investors cooled on AI chip stocks. That does not mean Nvidia’s business has collapsed — it is still enormously profitable — but its share price had run so far, so fast, that even a normal pullback looks huge in dollar terms.

    Why It Matters

    The top spot matters because it shows where investors feel safest at a given moment. When Nvidia leads, the market is betting on AI growth above all else. When Apple leads, the market is betting on steady cash, strong brands and products people buy every day.

    It also shows how much market leadership can swing. Apple and Nvidia have swapped the top spot several times in recent months. A $90 billion gap sounds large, but for companies worth around $5 trillion, it is less than 2% — one good or bad day can flip it back.

    What Happens Next

    Apple’s next test comes quickly: the company reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Monday, November 2. Investors will watch holiday demand following its recent iPhone and Mac launches, and whether its services business keeps growing.

    Nvidia’s next earnings report will be watched just as closely, because it will show whether demand for AI chips is still growing at the pace investors expected. If either company surprises — good or bad — the top spot could change hands again within days.

    Final Thoughts

    It is tempting to treat “world’s most valuable company” as a permanent title. It is not. It is a snapshot of one day’s prices, and in volatile markets, snapshots change fast. What lasts longer is the lesson behind this one: when a market gets worried about spending and returns, it rewards the company that makes steady money over the company that promises future money — even if that future money could be much bigger. Apple won this round by falling less. That is not glamorous, but in a falling market, it counts.

    Key figures:

    • Apple: $344.63 per share on Friday, down 1.2%; market capitalisation $5.03 trillion
    • Nvidia: $204.64 per share on Friday, down 4.2%; market capitalisation $4.93 trillion
    • Gap: roughly $90 billion in Apple’s favour
    • First time Apple has topped Nvidia since late July 2026
    • Apple shares: up about 27% in 2026
    • Nasdaq: down 2.9% on Friday; down 5.3% in October, worst month since March 2025

    Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

    Sources: CNBC reporting on Apple’s market capitalisation (October 2026); Bloomberg report “Apple Overtakes Nvidia to Become World’s Most Valuable Company” (via https://longbridge.com/en/news/303820664); AppleInsider report (https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/10/30/iphone-demand-sees-apple-topple-nvidia-as-most-valuable-company-again)

    Related: Why Google Stock Crashed 12.6%: What Investors Need to Know

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