Apple Stock: Is AAPL Underperforming the Technology Sector?

Apple store and shoppers - by PhillDanze via iStock

Sohini Mondal

Tue, February 24, 2026 at 1:51 AM GMT+9 2 min read

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AAPL

+0.70%

With a market cap of $3.9 trillion, Apple Inc. (AAPL) is a global technology company that designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of consumer electronics, including iPhone smartphones, Mac computers, iPad tablets, and wearables like Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro. It serves consumers, businesses, and institutional markets worldwide through its retail stores, online platforms, and third-party distribution partners.

Companies valued over $200 billion are generally described as “mega-cap” stocks, and Apple fits right into that category. Beyond hardware, Apple offers a robust ecosystem of services such as the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Pay, Apple Card, and various subscription-based platforms spanning entertainment, fitness, gaming, and cloud support.

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Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company have dipped 7.9% from its 52-week high of $288.62. Over the past three months, AAPL stock has decreased 1.7%, lagging behind the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLK) rise of 2% during the same period.

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In the longer term, AAPL stock has increased 8.6% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming XLK’s 18.6% gain over the same time frame. However, shares of the company have declined 1.9% on a YTD basis, a less pronounced decline than XLK’s 3.2% dip.

The stock has been trading above its 200-day moving average since August 2025.

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Shares of Apple rose marginally following its Q1 2026 results on Jan. 29 as the company delivered record revenue of $143.8 billion (up 16% year-over-year) and EPS of $2.84 (up 19% year-over-year). Also, iPhone and Services posted all-time revenue highs, and Apple’s installed base surpassed 2.5 billion active devices.

In comparison, rival Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) has lagged behind AAPL stock. However, MSFT stock has declined 20.3% on a YTD basis and 5.6% over the past 52 weeks.

Despite the stock’s underperformance relative to the sector over the past year, analysts are moderately optimistic about its prospects. AAPL stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 42 analysts covering the stock, and the mean price target of $293.48 is a premium of 10.3% to current levels.

_ On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com _

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