Apple (AAPL) closed at $142.81 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.06% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.69% loss on the day.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had lost 4.07% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 5.77% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 2.58% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be October 28, 2021. In that report, analysts expect AAPL to post earnings of $1.23 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 68.49%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $84.95 billion, up 31.3% from the year-ago period.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.32% higher. AAPL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AAPL has a Forward P/E ratio of 25.04 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.45, which means AAPL is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that AAPL currently has a PEG ratio of 2. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Computer - Mini computers stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.13 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Computer - Mini computers industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 2, putting it in the top 1% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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