Apple Inc. is the world’s largest company by market capitalization for much of the last decade, built around the iPhone and an increasingly important Services business. Apple trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker AAPL, with a market capitalization above 4.5 trillion dollars in mid 2026.
Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne.
CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after 15 years to become executive chairman on September 1, 2026, handing the role to hardware chief John Ternus.
Fiscal year 2025 revenue reached a record 416.16 billion dollars, with net income of 112.01 billion dollars.
Fiscal second quarter 2026 set a March quarter revenue record of 111.2 billion dollars, up 17 percent year over year.
Apple pays a quarterly dividend, recently raised to 0.27 dollars per share, alongside a 100 billion dollar share buyback authorization.
Shares hit an all time high of 317.40 dollars in June 2026 before pulling back amid memory chip cost concerns.
Tim Cook, transitioning to John Ternus on September 1, 2026
Headquarters
Apple Park, Cupertino, California
Industry
Consumer electronics, software, and online services
Business Segments
Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, Rest of Asia Pacific; products tracked as iPhone, Mac, iPad, Wearables, and Services
FY2025 Revenue
416.16 billion dollars
FY2025 Net Income
112.01 billion dollars
Market Capitalization
Approximately 4.5 trillion dollars (mid 2026)
Dividend
0.27 dollars per share, paid quarterly
Website
apple.com
What Is Apple?
Apple designs and sells the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, along with a large and growing family of digital services that includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud, Apple Pay, and AppleCare. The company is best known for tightly integrating its own hardware, chips, and software into a single ecosystem that keeps customers within its product family across multiple devices.
While the iPhone remains Apple’s single largest source of revenue, Services has become the company’s fastest growing and highest margin business, now representing close to 30 percent of total revenue. That shift toward recurring subscription and platform revenue is a central reason Apple continues to command a premium valuation despite iPhone unit sales growth that varies significantly from year to year.
Company History
Apple’s history spans nearly five decades, moving from a hobbyist computer kit business to the most valuable consumer technology company in the world.
Key milestones
1976: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne found Apple Computer in Los Altos, California, to sell the Apple I computer kit.
1980: Apple goes public on Nasdaq in one of the largest IPOs of its era.
1984: Apple launches the Macintosh, introducing a graphical user interface to mainstream consumers.
1997: Steve Jobs returns to Apple after more than a decade away, leading a turnaround that reshapes the company’s product line and culture.
2001 to 2007: Apple launches the iPod, opens its first retail stores, and introduces the iPhone in 2007, redefining the smartphone category.
2010 to 2011: The iPad launches in 2010, and Tim Cook becomes CEO in August 2011 following Steve Jobs’s resignation for health reasons; Jobs passes away later that year.
2018: Apple becomes the first US company to reach a 1 trillion dollar market capitalization.
2020: Apple begins transitioning the Mac lineup to its own Apple Silicon chips, moving away from Intel processors.
2023: Apple launches Vision Pro, its first major new product category in years, entering the spatial computing market.
2026: Apple announces that Tim Cook will become executive chairman on September 1, with hardware engineering chief John Ternus taking over as CEO, marking the company’s first leadership change in fifteen years.
Founders
Steve Jobs
Co-founder and the company’s defining visionary, serving as CEO from 1997 until 2011. Jobs led the development of the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad before passing away in October 2011.
Steve Wozniak
Co-founder and the engineer behind the Apple I and Apple II computers. Wozniak left day to day operations decades ago but remains publicly associated with Apple’s early technical achievements.
Ronald Wayne
The company’s third co-founder, who sold his 10 percent stake back to Jobs and Wozniak for 800 dollars just twelve days after Apple was founded, a decision widely cited as one of the most expensive in business history.
CEO
Tim Cook has served as Apple’s CEO since August 2011, overseeing a period in which the company’s revenue and market value grew several times over, driven by iPhone expansion and the rise of Services. Cook joined Apple in 1998 and previously ran the company’s global operations before succeeding Steve Jobs.
In a major leadership transition, Apple announced that Cook will step down as CEO and move into the role of executive chairman on September 1, 2026. He will be succeeded by John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, who has led development of the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and other core hardware products. The move marks Apple’s first CEO change in fifteen years and was announced shortly before the company posted record fiscal second quarter 2026 results.
Headquarters
Apple is headquartered at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, a circular campus that opened in 2017 and houses the majority of the company’s engineering, design, and corporate functions. Apple also operates major offices and retail flagship stores worldwide, along with manufacturing partnerships, most notably with Foxconn, and chip production partnerships with TSMC in Taiwan.
Business Segments
Apple reports results across five geographic segments, while also disclosing revenue by product and services category.
Americas
Apple’s largest geographic region by revenue, covering North and South America, grew 11.9 percent year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2026.
Europe
Includes European countries as well as India, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment grew 14.7 percent year over year in the same quarter.
Greater China
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. This region posted the strongest growth of any segment, up 28.1 percent year over year, Apple’s best result there in nearly four years.
Japan
A smaller but consistently profitable market, up 15.1 percent year over year in the most recent quarter.
Rest of Asia Pacific
Includes fast growing markets such as India and Southeast Asia. This segment grew 25.3 percent year over year, reflecting Apple’s expanding retail and distribution footprint in the region.
Products and Services
iPhone: Apple’s largest product line, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone Air, and the more affordable iPhone 17e.
Mac: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, the newly introduced MacBook Neo, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and iMac, all now running on Apple Silicon chips.
iPad: iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro, with the latest Pro model built on Apple’s M5 chip.
Wearables, Home and Accessories: Apple Watch, AirPods and AirPods Pro, Apple Vision Pro, Apple TV, and HomePod.
Services: App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness Plus, Apple News Plus, iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Card, AppleCare, and a growing advertising business.
Software platforms: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS, along with Apple Silicon chips including the M5 and A series processors that power its devices.
Revenue Breakdown
The chart below shows Apple’s revenue by product and services category for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the most recent quarter reported. The iPhone remains dominant, but Services now rivals it as a share of total revenue.
Apple Revenue by Category, Q2 Fiscal 2026
Figures in billions of US dollars, quarter ended March 28, 2026
Source: Apple fiscal Q2 2026 earnings release, reported April 2026.
iPhone revenue of 57.0 billion dollars accounted for roughly 51 percent of total revenue, up 21.7 percent year over year and setting a March quarter record on strong iPhone 17 demand. Services reached an all time high of 31.0 billion dollars, up 16.3 percent, and now makes up close to 28 percent of revenue while contributing a much larger share of total profit due to its higher margins. Mac, iPad, and Wearables together made up the remainder, each posting solid single digit growth.
Financial Performance
Apple’s annual revenue dipped slightly in fiscal 2023 before returning to growth, with fiscal 2025 marking a new all time high.
Apple Annual Revenue, Fiscal Years 2022 to 2025
Figures in billions of US dollars
Source: Apple annual reports and SEC filings. Fiscal years end in late September.
Fiscal year 2025 highlights
Record full year revenue of 416.16 billion dollars, up 6.43 percent from 391.04 billion dollars in fiscal 2024.
Record full year net income of 112.01 billion dollars.
Fourth quarter revenue of 102.5 billion dollars, a September quarter record, with an all time revenue record for Services.
Full year free cash flow of roughly 98.77 billion dollars.
Second quarter fiscal 2026 highlights
Revenue of 111.2 billion dollars, up 17 percent year over year, the largest non holiday quarter in Apple’s history.
Net income of 29.6 billion dollars, up 22 percent year over year, with diluted earnings per share of 2.01 dollars.
Gross margin of 49.3 percent, up from 47.1 percent a year earlier and ahead of Apple’s own guidance range.
Double digit revenue growth across all five geographic segments, led by a 28.1 percent surge in Greater China.
Guidance for fiscal third quarter 2026 calls for 14 to 17 percent revenue growth, though management flagged rising memory chip costs that are expected to pressure margins and push some device prices higher over the next two quarters.
Metric
Q2 FY2026
Q2 FY2025
Change
Total revenue
111.2B
95.4B
+17%
iPhone revenue
57.0B
46.8B
+21.7%
Services revenue
31.0B
26.6B
+16.3%
Gross margin
49.3%
47.1%
+220 bps
Net income
29.6B
24.8B
+22%
Diluted EPS
2.01
1.65
+22%
Stock Information
Apple trades under the single ticker AAPL on the Nasdaq and remains one of the most widely held stocks in the world, both directly and through index funds tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.
AAPL 52 Week Trading Range
Approximate price levels in US dollars
Source: market data compiled early July 2026. Verify against a live quote before trading.
Exchange
Nasdaq
Recent Price
Approximately 294 to 309 dollars
Market Cap
Approximately 4.5 trillion dollars
52 Week Range
201.50 to 317.40 dollars
All Time High
317.40 dollars, set June 8, 2026
Trailing P/E Ratio
Approximately 37.3x
EPS (TTM)
Approximately 8.27 dollars
Dividend Yield
Approximately 0.35 percent
Next Earnings Date
July 30, 2026
This is general market information, not personalized investment advice. Apple stock has recently reacted sharply to news on foldable iPhone production, memory chip costs, and the CEO transition. Always confirm current figures with a live broker feed or Apple’s investor relations site before making financial decisions.
Dividends
Apple resumed paying a dividend in 2012 after roughly a seventeen year pause and has increased it most years since. The board most recently raised the quarterly payout by 4 percent in April 2026.
Current quarterly dividend: 0.27 dollars per share, payable to shareholders of record as of mid May 2026.
Payout ratio: Roughly 14 percent of earnings, leaving substantial capacity for continued dividend growth.
Buybacks: Apple’s board authorized an additional 100 billion dollars in share repurchases alongside the latest dividend increase, continuing one of the largest corporate buyback programs in history.
Capital policy shift: Apple has said it will no longer treat being net cash neutral as a formal target, after reducing net cash by more than 100 billion dollars since 2018, signaling continued large scale capital return to shareholders.
Competitors
Smartphones
Samsung remains Apple’s largest global smartphone rival, while Huawei and Xiaomi compete strongly in China and other international markets.
Personal computers
Microsoft, through its Windows ecosystem and hardware partners, along with Dell, HP, and Lenovo, compete with the Mac lineup.
Digital services
Google, Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify compete with various pieces of Apple’s Services business, from cloud storage to streaming music and video.
Wearables
Samsung, Garmin, and Fitbit, owned by Google, compete with Apple Watch, while Sony and Bose compete in premium audio against AirPods.
Mixed reality
Meta’s Quest headsets and Samsung’s emerging mixed reality devices compete with Apple Vision Pro in the still developing spatial computing category.
Mobile operating systems
Google’s Android platform remains the primary alternative to iOS globally, particularly in price sensitive international markets where Apple has lower share.
Recent News
LeadershipApple confirmed that Tim Cook will step down as CEO to become executive chairman on September 1, 2026, with hardware engineering chief John Ternus taking over as CEO, marking the company’s first leadership change in fifteen years.
EarningsFiscal second quarter 2026 results beat expectations across the board, with record revenue of 111.2 billion dollars, record Services revenue, and a March quarter iPhone revenue record.
Capital returnsApple’s board authorized an additional 100 billion dollars in share buybacks and raised the quarterly dividend 4 percent to 0.27 dollars per share.
Product roadmapApple is reportedly preparing to produce about 10 million foldable iPhones between late 2026 and mid 2027, part of an expanded lineup of new iPhone models; shares jumped roughly 4 percent on the reports, adding about 182 billion dollars in market value in a single session.
CostsApple has raised prices on several hardware products as global memory chip supplies tighten, and Tim Cook warned that AI driven memory demand will keep component costs elevated for at least the next two quarters.
Product roadmapReports suggest Apple plans to unveil a new iPad Pro and a redesigned, more affordable MacBook Pro in 2027, continuing a steady refresh cycle across its computing lineup.
MarketsApple shares reached an all time high closing price of 317.40 dollars on June 8, 2026, before pulling back on broader semiconductor sector weakness and memory cost concerns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tim Cook still Apple’s CEO?
Yes, as of mid 2026, though that is changing. Apple announced that Cook will move into the role of executive chairman on September 1, 2026, handing the CEO title to John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering.
Who founded Apple?
Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Wayne sold his stake back to the other two founders just twelve days later for 800 dollars, a decision often cited as one of the costliest in business history given Apple’s current value.
What is Apple’s biggest source of revenue?
The iPhone remains Apple’s largest revenue source, generating 57.0 billion dollars in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 alone, roughly 51 percent of total revenue. Services is the second largest and fastest growing category.
Does Apple pay a dividend?
Yes. Apple pays a quarterly dividend, most recently raised to 0.27 dollars per share in April 2026. The company also runs one of the largest stock buyback programs of any public company.
Why is Apple raising prices on some products?
Apple has pointed to tightening global memory chip supplies, driven in part by surging AI related demand, as a key reason component costs are rising. Management has said this pressure is likely to affect iPhone, Mac, and iPad costs for at least the next couple of quarters.
What is the Apple Vision Pro?
Vision Pro is Apple’s mixed reality headset, first launched in 2023 and updated with a second generation model in February 2026. It represents Apple’s entry into spatial computing, though it remains a small part of total revenue compared with the iPhone and Services.
Is Apple building a foldable iPhone?
Reports indicate Apple is preparing to produce roughly 10 million foldable iPhone units between late 2026 and mid 2027, which would mark Apple’s entry into the foldable smartphone category already occupied by Samsung and several Chinese manufacturers.
How does Apple make money outside of hardware?
Apple’s Services segment includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud storage, Apple Pay, AppleCare, Apple Card, and a growing advertising business. Services revenue reached an all time high of 31.0 billion dollars in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and now makes up close to 28 percent of total company revenue.
Is Apple stock a good buy?
That depends on individual goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Apple combines steady Services growth with a large capital return program, but also faces margin pressure from rising component costs and a significant leadership transition later in 2026. This is not personalized investment advice, and anyone considering Apple stock should review current financial statements and consult a licensed financial advisor.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Figures are sourced from Apple’s public filings, earnings releases, and reputable financial news outlets as of early July 2026, and are subject to change. Always verify current data before making investment decisions.
