Is Apple Stock a Buy for 2026?

• Growth astatine the user tech behemoth has slowed arsenic innovation has fallen off.

• Investors person waited a agelong portion for Apple to yet motorboat an AI strategy.

• Despite the dilatory growth, the banal is rather costly astatine 32 times guardant earnings.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than Apple ›

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been noticeably absent from each the artificial quality (AI) concern talk. While it has rolled retired immoderate AI features, it's inactive miles down its competition. However, it could beryllium executing a genius strategy of waiting to spot what works, past implementing it astatine a overmuch little improvement cost.

We're inactive successful the midst of seeing whether this strategy volition cookware out, truthful it's intolerable to find the outcome. However, investors can't spend to hold for a determination connected what to bash with Apple's stock. 2026 is present now, and investors indispensable determine whether Apple is worthy an concern successful 2026 oregon not.

Apple is either the second- oregon third-largest institution successful the satellite by marketplace cap, arsenic it often swaps places with Alphabet based connected regular movements of the stocks. At its $3.9 trillion marketplace cap, it's besides a just spot down Nvidia at $4.6 trillion. If you worth profits, you could marque an statement that Apple should beryllium worthy much than Nvidia (but not Alphabet).

However, this leaves retired 1 important factor: growth. It doesn't bash a institution a batch of bully to marque a immense profit, past apical retired and ne'er turn again. Apple is successful this area, arsenic its maturation has been stagnant for galore years. Apple has spent the amended portion of the past 4 years delivering high-single-digit maturation astatine best.

This stems from the company's innovation decreasing and not launching immoderate wide accepted products. One country wherever Apple could person shifted that communicative was AI, but it's intelligibly down its smartphone peers successful this area. As mentioned above, Apple could beryllium playing the waiting crippled with AI, but that could besides beryllium a catastrophe if 1 of its large competitors launches a hard-to-integrate AI feature.

Apple is genuinely a institution that's resting connected its laurels and counting connected anterior occurrence to thrust aboriginal results. I don't deliberation that's a winning combination, and I'm a spot acrophobic astir Apple's future.

In 2025, Apple's banal roseate 8.6%. That underperformed the broader market, arsenic measured by the S&P 500, which roseate 16.4%. I'm not amazed astatine this result, arsenic high-single-digit maturation is each that Apple is delivering. If you look astatine full return, which factors successful dividends and banal buybacks, Apple did a small better. Still, it's doing these activities astatine astir the aforesaid complaint arsenic astir S&P 500 components, truthful it didn't propel Apple into market-beating territory.