Apple's Expanding Enterprise Footprint to Boost Sales: What's Ahead?

Apple’s AAPL top-line is benefiting from an expanding enterprise footprint. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the company saw strong adoption with Snowflake deploying more than 9,000 Mac devices while AstraZeneca rolled out more than 5,000 M5-powered iPad Pros to its pharmaceutical sales team. Mexico’s largest domestic retailer – Coppel – added MacBook Air to its growing fleet of more than 10,000 iPad devices.

In the trailing 12 months, Apple’s devices have been adopted by the likes of BMW Group (tens of thousands of iPhones), Capital One added MacBook Airs, while the Czech Republic’s largest bank, Ceska sporitelna, is using more than 5,000 iPhones in addition to its existing thousands of iPads and Macs. Other notable users include PayPal, Roche, and Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank. Apart from iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, Apple Vision Pro is gaining adoption. Apple’s visionOS 26 introduced new enterprise APIs that empower companies to build their own spatial experiences. This is expected to further drive the adoption of Apple devices.

The company is now bringing Apple Business that combines built-in mobile device management, business email and calendar services with custom domain support. Apple Business can help enterprises grow their reach and connect with local customers across Apple Maps, Mail, Wallet, Siri, and more. Apple is set to introduce a new option coming this summer that will enable businesses in the United States and Canada to place local ads in Maps during key search and discovery moments. Beginning April 14, Apple Business will be available as a free service in the United States and more than 200+ countries and regions to new and existing users of Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials and Apple Business Manager.

An expanding enterprise base is expected to boost shipments of Apple devices in the near term. Apple’s installed base has surpassed more than 2.5 billion devices, with the company’s installed base of devices reaching an all-time high in Greater China and Mainland China. A growing installed base in India is a key catalyst. Apple expects the March quarter’s (second-quarter fiscal 2026) net sales to grow between 13% and 16% on a year-over-year basis despite constrained iPhone supply. Services are expected to grow at the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 rate. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales is currently pegged at $108.9 billion, suggesting 14.2% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Apple Faces Stiff Competition

AAPL is facing stiff competition from the likes of Dell Technologies DELL and Alphabet GOOGL.

Dell Technologies benefits from strong demand for AI servers driven by the ongoing digital transformation and heightened interest in generative AI applications. It secured $34.1 billion in AI server orders, surpassing shipments and building a strong backlog. Dell’s Client Solutions Group (CSG) segment reported $50.98 billion in revenues in fiscal 2026, a 5% year over year increase, with commercial revenue growing 16% year over year. The increasing adoption of remote working and the PC-refresh cycle, coupled with advancements in AI-enabled architectures from Intel and AMD, are expected to further drive demand for Dell’s CSG products in fiscal 2027.

Alphabet’s Google Services business includes the Pixel family of devices. In 2025, Alphabet’s Google Services generated 85.1% of total revenues with revenues hitting $342.72 billion, up 12.4% from 2024. Alphabet is benefiting from accelerated growth across AI infrastructure, Google Cloud and Search. Search is benefiting from AI Overviews and AI Mode, which have driven growth in overall queries. The launch of personal intelligence in AI Mode in search and the Gemini app bodes well for Alphabet’s prospects.

AAPL’s Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Apple shares have dropped 7.1% year to date, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s drop of 6.2%.

Apple Stock’s Performance

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The AAPL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/earnings of 28.59X compared with the broader sector’s 22.7X. AAPL has a Value Score of D.

AAPL Valuation

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.40 per share, down a penny over the past 30 days, suggesting 12.6% year-over-year growth.

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Apple Inc. price-consensus-chart | Apple Inc. Quote

Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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