Apple (AAPL) closed at $145.40 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.51% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.82% gain on the day.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of iPhones, iPads and other products had gained 9.08% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.89% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AAPL as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 27, 2021. The company is expected to report EPS of $1, up 53.85% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $73.14 billion, up 22.54% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.19 per share and revenue of $356.73 billion, which would represent changes of +58.23% and +29.95%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AAPL. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.33% higher within the past month. AAPL is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, AAPL is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 28.16. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.26.

Also, we should mention that AAPL has a PEG ratio of 2.22. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock'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 industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, which puts it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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