Apple earnings: Wall Street eyes AI plans, iPhone sales and memory costs

Apple will report fiscal first-quarter results after the market close on Thursday, and investors are closely watching the company’s AI strategy, iPhone sales, and rising memory costs, analysts say. Wall Street expects Apple to report $138.4 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.68 for the quarter.

The stock is up about 10% over the last 12 months but was down about 1% on Wednesday to roughly $255, the report said. The company has largely avoided the heavy AI capex seen at other mega-cap firms and recently announced a partnership with Google’s Gemini to bolster Siri. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Apple should lay out a blueprint for accelerating its AI push ahead of a Siri refresh this spring and WWDC in June, and suggested no “AI premium” is currently priced into the stock.

Other analysts offered mixed near-term views but bullish longer-term outlooks. Goldman Sachs’ Michael Ng called the pullback a buying opportunity and set a $320 price target, while Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring expects short-term weakness after the print but a stronger 2026 tied to an upgraded Siri/Apple Intelligence in February, WWDC, a foldable iPhone and a 2nm-powered iPhone.

UBS warned that rising memory costs could pressure margins in later quarters, and SWBC’s Chris Brigati cautioned that investors may be underwhelmed by Apple’s AI updates.

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