Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Price to Earnings (P/E) Ratio Trend

The P/E ratio exhibits an initial absence of data, becoming available starting in late 2019 with a value of 20. It then fluctuates with an upward movement peaking around early 2021 at 36. Subsequently, it generally declines with minor fluctuations, settling near the 30 range by mid-2025. This suggests increased valuation multiples through early 2021 followed by stabilization and slight decline, indicating changes in market perception of earnings growth or risk.

Price to Operating Profit (P/OP) Ratio Trend

The P/OP ratio shows a similar pattern to the P/E ratio, beginning around 17.29 in late 2019 and rising to a peak exceeding 31 in early 2021. After this peak, there is a gradual decline and minor fluctuations, fluctuating mostly in the low to mid-20s range through mid-2025. This pattern reflects market valuation of operating profitability which peaked around early 2021 before stabilizing and slightly decreasing.

Price to Sales (P/S) Ratio Trend

The P/S ratio starts near 4.25 in late 2019 and rises steadily with small variances to reach around 8.96 by mid-2025, peaking briefly near late 2024. This indicates an increasing premium on sales over time, reflecting strong revenue growth expectations or investor willingness to pay more per unit of sales. The upward trend is consistent and less volatile compared to earnings and operating profit multiples.

Price to Book Value (P/BV) Ratio Trend

The P/BV ratio begins at 6.61 in late 2018 and increases substantially over the entire period, peaking around 59.17 in late 2024. There is notable volatility with occasional declines, but the overall trend is sharply upward. This suggests increasing market valuations relative to the book value of assets, possibly indicating growth expectations, intangible asset value recognition, or changes in capital structure.

Comparative Insights

Across all ratios, there is a general trend of rising valuation multiples up to around early 2021, especially pronounced in P/E and P/OP ratios, followed by stabilization or mild decline. The P/S and P/BV ratios, however, show sustained long-term increases, signaling robust sales growth and growing market confidence in asset value beyond book measures. The differences in ratio trends highlight variations in how investors value earnings, profits, sales, and equity over time.

Overall Assessment

The data indicate a period of strong investor optimism and elevated valuation multiples culminating around 2021, followed by a phase of adjustment with some moderation in earnings and operating profit multiples. The upward trajectory in price to sales and book value ratios suggests continued confidence in top-line growth and asset valuation, while the P/E and P/OP ratios reflect more cautious or normalized profit-related valuation metrics. These trends provide insight into evolving market sentiment and financial performance assessments over the multiple years covered.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals distinct trends in share price, earnings per share (EPS), and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio over the observed periods.

Share Price (US$)

The share price demonstrates a generally upward trajectory from late 2018 to mid-2025, starting at $41.31 and reaching as high as $236 before a slight decline toward $202-$205 in the most recent quarters. Notable increases occurred around mid-2020 and late 2021, where prices surged significantly. Despite minor fluctuations, the overall momentum has been positive, indicating strengthened market valuation and investor confidence over time.

Earnings Per Share (EPS) (US$)

EPS data begins from early 2019 and shows steady growth from approximately $3.11 to around $6.69 by mid-2025. This doubling over the span of the data reflects consistent profitability improvements. While there are brief periods of marginal decline or plateauing—such as slight dips observed around early 2024—EPS maintains an overall ascending pattern, suggesting sustained operational performance and increased shareholder value.

Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio

The P/E ratio exhibits moderate volatility throughout the timeline, generally ranging between 20 and 37. Early in the dataset, it begins at a value of 20, increasing sharply to above 30 by late 2019, then fluctuating between 25 and near 37 over subsequent quarters. The volatility in the P/E ratio compared to the steadier growth in EPS indicates that market price adjustments have occasionally outpaced earnings growth, reflecting shifts in investor sentiment, market conditions, or expectations of future performance. The ratio's movement implies that while earnings are consistently increasing, the share price sometimes reflects greater optimism or risk assessment adjustments.

In summary, the data depict a company experiencing solid growth in earnings accompanied by a rising share price, albeit with typical market-based fluctuations in valuation multiples. The trends suggest increasing profitability and sustained investor interest, with market valuations adjusting dynamically to both earnings progression and broader economic or sector-specific factors.

The share price exhibits an overall upward trend from December 2018 through mid-2025, despite some fluctuations. Beginning at $41.31 in December 2018, the price increased steadily, reaching a peak of $236 in June 2025 before experiencing a slight decline towards $202.38 by June 2025. Notable spikes occurred around mid-2020, where the share price rose sharply from $72.27 in March 2020 to $106.26 in June 2020, and again from the end of 2023 to mid-2024, climbing from $176.65 to $219.86.

Operating profit per share (OP per share) data begins in the second quarter of 2019 with a value of $3.60 and shows a consistent increase over the subsequent quarters. The figure rises steadily to $4.42 by December 2020 and continues to grow to $8.77 by September 2025. This growth is indicative of sustained improvements in operational profitability per unit of share.

The price to operating profit ratio (P/OP) fluctuates throughout the observed periods. Initially provided in mid-2019 at 17.29, it reaches higher values in late 2019 and early 2020, peaking around 31 in December 2020. Subsequent data show a general decline in the ratio, settling mostly in the low-to-mid 20s range between 2021 and 2025. This suggests a relatively stable valuation of operating profit by the market in recent years after a period of higher volatility.

Share price

Demonstrates a strong upward movement over the entire period, with some short-term volatility and notable growth phases particularly during mid-2020 and early 2024.

Operating profit per share

Shows a continuous and gradual increase, more than doubling from initial recorded levels to the latest data point, highlighting improving profitability.

Price to operating profit ratio (P/OP)

Reflects initial volatility with a high peak in late 2020, followed by a more stable range, suggesting market valuation adjustments correlating with the company's profitability growth.

The share price exhibits an overall upward trend from late 2018 through mid-2025, notwithstanding several fluctuations. Starting at $41.31 in December 2018, the price rose steadily, reaching a peak near $170 in late 2021. Following this peak, the price exhibited some volatility, with values dipping below this peak but generally maintaining a level above $150 through 2022. In 2023 and into 2024, the share price reached its highest recorded values in the dataset, exceeding $220, before declining slightly toward mid-2025 to around $202.

Sales per share data is available starting mid-2019, showing a consistent pattern of growth. Beginning at $14.64 in June 2019, this figure increased steadily quarter over quarter, ending at $27.53 in June 2025. This consistent increase reflects ongoing revenue growth on a per-share basis over the observed periods.

The price-to-sales (P/S) ratio displays some variability but generally trends upward from its initial available value of 4.25 in December 2019 to a notable peak of 8.96 in June 2024. Periodic fluctuations in the P/S ratio are observed, with dips noted in early 2021 and 2022, but the general trajectory indicates an increasing valuation relative to sales. Toward mid-2025, the ratio decreases slightly to around 7.35.

Share Price Analysis

Steady growth in the share price is observed, with a significant increase from approximately $41 to over $200 in six and a half years. Some volatility is evident, particularly after the 2021 peak.

Sales per Share

Sales per share show continuous improvement, nearly doubling from $14.64 to over $27.00, signaling solid revenue growth on a per-share basis.

Price-to-Sales Ratio

The P/S ratio trends upwards, nearly doubling from around 4.25 to close to 9.00, indicating that the market has increasingly valued each dollar of sales. Despite some quarter-to-quarter fluctuations, this ratio's upward trend suggests positive investor sentiment and confidence in growth prospects.

In summary, the data reflects consistent revenue growth per share accompanied by an increasing market valuation relative to sales, as evidenced by rising share prices and a growing P/S ratio. The fluctuations in share price and P/S ratio after 2021 suggest periods of market reassessment but do not negate the overall positive growth trend over the long term.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several notable trends and patterns in key metrics over the observed periods.

Share Price

The share price demonstrated an overall upward trajectory from the initial value of $41.31 in late 2018 to a peak exceeding $236 by mid-2025. There were occasional periods of volatility, including a notable decline following the December 2019 peak of $81.09, dropping to $72.27 in March 2020, likely reflecting broader market conditions at that time. Subsequently, the share price recovered strongly, reaching several new highs, especially between 2020 and 2024, before experiencing moderate fluctuations towards the end of the observed period.

Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

The book value per share showed a gradual decline from $6.25 in December 2018 to a low near the $3.19–$3.62 range during 2022. This decline suggests either increased share issuance, asset write-downs, or other factors reducing net asset value relative to the number of shares outstanding. After reaching its lowest points around 2022, BVPS exhibited some recovery and stabilization, fluctuating around $4.0 to $4.5 in the latest quarters, but remaining significantly below the early-period levels.

Price to Book Value (P/BV) Ratio

The P/BV ratio increased sharply throughout the dataset, starting from about 6.61 in December 2018 and escalating to levels as high as 59.17 by late 2024. This rising trend indicates that the market's valuation of the company's shares grew disproportionately relative to the underlying book value of equity. The increase in P/BV was particularly steep during 2020 and 2024, reflecting strong investor confidence or market optimism despite the decreasing or stagnant book value per share. In the last few quarters, this ratio showed some decrease but remained elevated above 45, underscoring the premium investors place on the shares.

In summary, the share price growth significantly outpaced the increases in book value per share, resulting in steadily rising price-to-book ratios and indicating robust market sentiment or expectations of future profitability. While BVPS declined or remained flat for much of the period, the share price recovery and appreciation suggest factors beyond book value, such as earnings growth, brand strength, or product innovation, are driving market valuation. The data does not provide direct insights into profitability or cash flow but implies that investor optimism has grown considerably over these periods.