Apple Purchase Commitments and Analyst Outlook
Apple reported that its fiscal third‑quarter purchase commitments jumped 28% quarter‑over‑quarter, reaching $57 billion compared with $44.6 billion in the prior quarter. This increase exceeds the 15% and 12% QoQ gains recorded in the same period over the two preceding years. Analyst Wamsi Mohan of Bank of America interpreted the surge as evidence that Apple is ramping iPhone production and stockpiling components, including memory chips, to safeguard supply and mitigate higher component prices.
Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Apple and maintained a $380 price target, emphasizing the significance of the commitment increase. The firm also highlighted a newly added risk factor in Apple’s filing that flags exposure to component availability and computing constraints. Apple warned that industry‑wide supply shortages and cost inflation in advanced semiconductors, NAND and DRAM could limit its ability to offset pricing pressures, and constrained compute capacity might delay AI feature rollouts.
In the same quarter, Apple returned more than $29.8 billion to shareholders, comprising $25.8 billion of share buybacks and $4 billion of dividend payments, underscoring its continued strong capital return program.