Apple Stocks Rising in Holiday Quarter

Apple shares rose by 2% in pre-market trading on Friday. This increase was supported by the company's positive forecasts for a profitable holiday quarter, signifying that sales of the new iPhone 17 models would increase. Notably, developments remained promising despite delays in shipments to major markets such as China.

Although supply constraints in the fourth quarter negatively impacted sales, investors remained optimistic following Apple's release of its new iPhone series in September, which saw its stock value exceed $4 trillion earlier this week. This placed Apple alongside Nvidia and Microsoft as one of the companies with a market value exceeding $4 trillion.

Forecasts alleviated concerns about Apple's cautious approach to integrating long-awaited artificial intelligence features, while also highlighting the rapid advancements of other major tech giants. Eric Clark, investment manager at Accuvest, stated, "I understand the importance of holding this stock for decades. When it’s a big company like Apple, you don't have to move quickly; sometimes it's enough to just make the right decision in the end."

Among the "Fabulous Five" major tech companies, which have been some of the lowest performers this year, Amazon and Apple saw their stocks rise on Friday ahead of Amazon's growth in the cloud sector. Apple shares are trading at 33.4 times analysts' earnings expectations, a premium compared to Microsoft's 31.7 and Meta Platforms' 22.3 times.