The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Apple, Alphabet and Garmin
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – March 19, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Apple AAPL, Alphabet GOOGL and Garmin GRMN.
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Apple Expands Wearables Portfolio with New AirPods Max: What's Ahead?
Appleis expanding its Wearables, Home and Accessories portfolio with the launch of AirPods Max 2. The devices come at an opportune time as the iPhone maker faces stiff competition from the likes of Samsung, Alphabet and Garmin. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Wearables, Home and Accessories sales of $11.49 billion decreased 2.2% year over year and accounted for 8% of net sales. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.72%.
AirPods Max 2 offers features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation for the first time. The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) device is expected to gain adoption among podcasters, musicians, and content creators, with useful features like studio-quality audio recording and camera remote. Thanks to H2 and new computational audio algorithms, AirPods Max 2 deliver ANC, which is up to 1.5 times more effective than the previous generation.
Apple's Wearables, Home and Accessories sales have been benefiting from strong adoption of Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11, which offer a comprehensive set of health and wellness features to help users meet their health goals. AirPods 3 adoption has been noteworthy due to the rich immersive sound quality and unmatched level of ANC. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the wearables installed base reached a new all-time high, with over half of the customers purchasing an Apple Watch being new to the product.
Apple Faces Stiff Competition
AAPL is facing stiff competition from the likes of Alphabet and Garmin in the wearables domain.
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.
Garmin is benefiting from strong momentum across the Fitness segment, which is primarily attributed to advanced wearables demand. The Fitness segment has continued to grow over the last few years. It generated $765.8 million of sales (36% of total sales) in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was up 42% from the year-ago quarter's level. Garmin's expanding Venu and vivoactive smartwatch series, which boast new health and wellness features, including nap detection and enhanced sleep coaching, has been a positive.
AAPL's Share Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Apple shares have dropped 6.5% year to date, underperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector's drop of 3%.
The AAPL stock is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month price/earnings of 28.83X compared with the broader sector's 24.18X. AAPL has a Value Score of D.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $8.41 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, suggesting 12.7% year-over-year growth.
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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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
