Is Apple a Top Tech Stock to Buy Now?
Key Points
Apple's stock is outpacing its business growth.
Apple has reached a valuation level rarely seen.
- Motley Fool Issues Rare "Total Conviction" Buy Alert ›
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been sneakily delivering a strong 2026. It's up about 27% this year, easily outperforming the market. It's doing it without the fanfare of artificial intelligence (AI), although it has made some improvements in that area.
However, after such a great run in 2026, is it still a solid stock to buy now? I think history says it's not.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Business performance and stock performance are misaligned
Apple's business needs little introduction. Almost everyone in the U.S. has interacted with an Apple product at one time or another, and it has a strong grip on the consumer hardware space. However, this isn't typically considered a high-growth industry. Consumers only have so much money to spend on electronics and other gadgets, and Apple has saturated the market. Whether it's a phone, laptop, or watch, there's an Apple product for that. For years, Apple struggled with slow growth, but it has recently broken out above the 10% year-over-year growth mark.
AAPL Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts.
That comes after years of single-digit-to-negative growth, and it has the market excited. However, there are questions as to how long this will last. There's currently a substantial smartphone upgrade cycle underway, and once it wraps up, Apple could have a tough time keeping up with sales.
From a stock perspective, Apple's growth is underperforming its stock performance, which has pushed Apple to some valuation extremes.
Over the past decade, Apple stock breached 40 times earnings twice.
AAPL PE Ratio data by YCharts.
Each time it did so, the valuation declined by 25% to 30 times earnings or lower. That pattern looks slated to repeat itself in 2027 and could make Apple returns a bit scarce next year unless it can grow its way out of it.
However, with Wall Street analysts projecting 10% revenue growth in 2027, it's clear it won't grow substantially faster than the broader market. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) tends to grow at about a 10% pace on average. If Apple's revenue growth is at the same pace, then having nearly double the price tag doesn't make a ton of sense (the S&P 500 trades for 23.2 times earnings).
As a result, I think there are far better stocks to buy right now than Apple. The pattern is pretty clear that Apple's stock doesn't get much more expensive than this, so there will be far better times to buy in the future.
Should you buy stock in Apple right now?
Before you buy stock in Apple, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Apple wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $334,793!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,257,420!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 874% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 209% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 31, 2026.
Keithen Drury has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
