Apple shares slip after first touchscreen MacBook Pro debut

Apple shares slipped on Wednesday, October 28, after the company unveiled its first touchscreen Mac. The pullback left the stock just below its October 23 record high, Benzinga reported. Investors are now looking to Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter report, due after the market closes on Monday, November 2. Analysts expect the report to turn on two questions: whether the stock's premium valuation holds up, and how much rising memory chip costs cut into margins.tradingview.com

A reversal on touch

Apple announced the MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR Display at an event in Los Angeles. CNBC called the launch a reversal of Apple's decades-long refusal to put touchscreens on its laptops. "Yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac," CEO John Ternus told media and analysts, according to CNBC. Apple's press release says the 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399. Both use M5 Pro or M5 Max chips and a tandem OLED display, and shipping begins Friday, November 6. CNBC noted that both prices are well above Apple's current models. In a hands-on review, CNBC said touch is "entirely optional" and "won't change the way most people use their laptops."images.apple.com+2

The stock's decline was small. Benzinga said the shares were still about 28% higher than a year earlier and that nothing in the chart suggested the long uptrend had broken.tradingview.com

Valuation under scrutiny

The November 2 report will be Ternus's first earnings call as CEO since he took over on September 1, Finbold noted. Analysts expect earnings of about $1.99 per share on revenue of roughly $113.3 billion, TipRanks reported. In the same piece, a TipRanks contributor pointed out that Apple trades at nearly 40 times trailing earnings, near the top of its five-year range. The average analyst price target of $339.37 sits below where the stock now trades. The quarter ended September 26, so it includes only nine days of iPhone 18 Pro sales and none from the iPhone Duo foldable, which went on sale October 23.finbold.com+1

Memory costs weigh on margins

Apple has guided to a gross margin of 47% to 48% for the quarter, down from 50.1% in the prior quarter. That earlier figure included about two percentage points from tariff refunds, Pepperstone noted. Demand for AI data centers is pushing up DRAM and NAND memory prices. IDC estimates memory costs have risen about 350% since last year, iThinkDifferent reported. On his final earnings call, Tim Cook described "a 100-year flood on the memory pricing," according to 24/7 Wall St..pepperstone.com+2

Management has said the cushion from cheaper memory already in inventory is shrinking, according to Earnings Whispers. That could make the margin forecast for the holiday quarter "matter more than the September print itself."earningswhispers.com