CluenexApple Inc AAPL
Apple Inc scores average on business quality (5.8 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Apple Inc does
Apple designs and sells hardware like iPhones and Macs, alongside digital services, monetizing a massive global consumer base through premium-priced devices and recurring subscriptions.
- What it does best
Apple extracts exceptional profit from hardware by locking consumers into a sticky ecosystem. Its gross margin of 48.7% handily beats peers like Dell at 19.8%, driven by tight software-hardware integration that makes switching costly.
- The main risk
With a high debt-to-equity ratio of 1.4, the balance sheet carries substantial leverage that leaves little room for error if hardware demand slows.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin stands at 33.2% with an FCF margin ranking in the 78th sector percentile, proving the business scales efficiently.
The ecosystem lock-in relies on consumer switching costs, backed by an operating margin sector percentile of 83rd that prevents rivals from easily undercutting pricing.
Revenue grew at 6.4% over the latest period to $466.8B, showing a modest deceleration compared to prior cyclical swings.
Total debt sits at $99.9 billion against $54.7 billion in cash, while free cash flow reached a massive $136.7B, supporting heavy buybacks of $82.2B.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on AAPL
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Apple Inc scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.8 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat strong, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Nov 2, 2026, after the close.
See AAPL today
- Today's verdict on AAPL, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Apple Inc (AAPL)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/aapl/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.