Apple Still the DJIA's Best Performing Stock of 2017

Technology

Published: April 29, 2017 9:29 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 12:30 pm

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) added $1.38 last week (nearly 1%), closing at $143.65 on Friday. The company remains the best-performing stock by a wide margin among the 30 equities that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The company’s stock is up 24.03% year to date, well above second-place Boeing’s 18.72% improvement.

The share price peaked Tuesday afternoon at $144.90 and the low point for the week came Monday when shares touched $143.18.

Apple is scheduled to report earnings after markets close next Tuesday. Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.02 and revenues of $52.97 billion. In the same period last year, Apple reported earnings per share of $1.90 and revenues of $50.56 billion.

While no one expects Apple’s iPhone sales to be anywhere near the 78.3 million it sold in the holiday quarter, sales could rise to around 52 million in the company’s second fiscal quarter.

Another item analysts and investors will be looking at is Apple’s services business. Sales rose 18% in the previous quarter to $7.2 billion and contributed $20 billion to 2016 revenues. That number should continue to grow.

On the legal front, Apple upped the stakes in its battle with Qualcomm over royalty payments. On Friday the chipmaker said that Apple has indicated that it will not pay its iPhone suppliers for sales related to royalties in the first calendar quarter of 2017. Qualcomm also said that Apple intends to continue this cut-off until the dispute between the two companies is resolved. According to MacRumors, the loss of the royalty payments could total around $500 million in lost revenues for Qualcomm.

Apple shares closed at $143.65 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $89.47 to $145.46. The consensus 12-month price target is $148.96 in a price target range of $104 to $185 per share.