In this comprehensive guide, we will teach you how to buy Apple stock. We will break down the step-by-step stock buying guide and tell you everything you need to know before buying Apple shares. But even more importantly, we will help you decide if AAPL shares are worth buying by discussing key reasons to buy and not buy Apple stock in 2023.
Today, Apple is the most valuable company in the world – with a market cap of $2.33 Trillion. This is a slight decline from the $2.9 Trillion valuation reported in late 2021 – caused primarily by the ongoing bear market. In this post, we analyze both Apple Inc. and stock performance in the past, checking the factors shaping the stock’s current and future price action.
How To Buy Apple (AAPL) Stock – Overview
Here is an overview of the step-by-step process of buying Amazon shares in 2023. This is the near-standard buy process used by most regulated brokerages.
- Step 1: Create a share trader account – Start by registering a share investor account with a regulated and highly reputable brokerage. Most brokerages will only ask for your personal details and inquire about your income sources and trading experience.
- Step 2: Verify your identity – Any regulated broker will then demand that you verify your identity by submitting a government-issued identification document.
- Step 3: Deposit funds – From the list of supported assets provided by your preferred broker, choose one payment option, and follow the prompts to complete the cash deposit.
- Step 4: Buy Apple (AAPL) shares – Choose the ‘BUY’ option against Apple shares and customize the purchase.
That’s it! By following these easy steps, you can buy Apple shares in less than 10 minutes.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.
Below, we will go over this Apple stock buy process, explaining each step in detail.
The Apple Stock Buying Guide – Reviewed
Step 1: Decide Where To Buy Apple Stock
In most instances, an online share brokerage is your easiest and most convenient gateway to buying Apple shares. In addition to giving you access to these shares, most will also provide you with vital information that you can use to shape your investing decision.
But seeing that there are hundreds of companies competing for your attention and cash, how do you find the best Apple share broker? Well, here are a few critical considerations to take into account when finding a broker that works best for you:
Cost of trading: Assess the impact that all the fees and charges levied by your preferred broker will have on your trades. This refers to both the actual trading and non-trading fees, including spreads, commission, deposit/withdrawal charges, and overnight fees.
- Account minimums: The deposit and trading minimums are often the first pointers as to whether the broker supports fractional trading. Only register with a broker whose deposit and trading minimums you can afford to raise.
- Regulation and reputation: It is also imperative that you only register a trader account with a regulated share broker. This broker should also be of solid repute with regard to customer service and reliability.
- Investing goals: Your choice of the best Apple share broker should also be informed by your investing goals. Ask yourself if you wish to fraction trade, trade share CFDs, invest in the short term, or go long-term with IRAs and register with a broker that accommodates your investing needs.
- Access to tools: Your preferred crypto exchange must also provide you access to premium and effective trading, research, analysis and risk management tools. These should be provided in a user-friendly and highly intuitive trading interface.
eToro – Best Broke to Buy Apple Stock
eToro is a multi-regulated trading platform and one of the most popular online share brokerages – trusted by over 25 million users worldwide. Started in 2007 as a forex brokerage, eToro has since morphed into one of the largest and most reputable trading platforms. We consider the multi-asset trading platform the best Apple shares broker because of its user-friendliness.
This starts with a smooth and straightforward onboarding process. It is then complemented by a navigable and highly intuitive trading interface that appeals to both beginners and pro investors. It even integrates a wide range of educational content – including a demo account – and an even wider selection of premium research, analysis, and risk management tools – including negative balance protection.
To start buying Apple shares on eToro, you need to create a user account and deposit at least $10. This affirms the fact that eToro supports fractional share ownership and trading. This deposit can be made via a host of supported payment options – including PayPal – and the commission-free broker doesn’t charge deposit processing fees. The cost of trading on the platform only includes the variable spread fees, a fixed withdrawal fee of $5, and variable swap fees for leveraged trades left open overnight.
But eToro is even more popular because of its copy trading features. The investing tool makes it possible for both beginner and expert investors to earn passively. Novice traders make money by copying trade strategies of highly successful traders, while experts receive a commission from eToro – based on assets under copy. And you have the option of copying trade strategies for just the Apple shares or diversified portfolios – known as smart portfolios – that feature Apple stock.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.
Webull – Best Broker to Buy Apple Stock With Zero Commission Broker
Our analysts and a majority of expert investors believe Webull to be one of the best Apple share brokers because of three key reasons. These are its user-friendliness, its affordability, and support for IRA accounts.
For starters, Webull maintains a smooth and straightforward client onboarding process. This user-friendliness then extends to its highly intuitive trading interface, which is rich in both educational content and trading/analytical tools. These help it appeal to both beginner and expert investors.
The broker doesn’t have minimum deposit limits and supports fractional share ownership. You, however, need a minimum of $5 before you can start buying and selling shares on the platform. This amount can be deposited via either ACH checks or bank wire transfers. Check-processing is free, but bank deposits attract an $8 processing fee - while withdrawals are charged a $25 fee.
The multi-asset brokerage charges no commission when buying and selling shares on its platform. You only have to pay a small and highly competitive spread for your Apple spreads.
Webull also stands out as one of the best Apple shares brokerages because it lets you invest in shares over the long term through tax advantages IRA investing accounts.
Step 2: Research Apple Stock
After deciding on the best place to buy Apple shares, gather as much information as possible about Apple company and its share price history. Collect relevant information such as the company revenues as well as past and projected growth for both the main company and subsidiaries, and understand the factors affecting Apple stock.
What is Apple?
Apple is a multinational technology company and a manufacturer/distributor of personal computers, smartphones, tablets, and other technological devices. It is also the most valuable company in the world – with a market capitalization of $2.33 Trillion and the largest technology company in the world – by revenue.
It was created in 1976 by the all-popular tech entrepreneur Steve Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak. The technology company was originally designed with the vision of revolutionizing the computing industry by manufacturing portable personal computers. It achieved this first with the successful launch of Apple Computer 1, also known as Apple-1.
But throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Apple was plagued with multiple challenges that threatened its survival. The most prevalent were the leadership wrangles within the company that saw Steve Jobs ousted as the company CEO and stiff competition from Bill Gates’ Microsoft company.
The tech giant, however, found its footing in the late 1990s and shot to popularity in the early 2000s with the launch of the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. Today, under the stewardship of Tim Cook, Apple has morphed into one of the most popular, most valuable, and most recognizable brands across the world.
Apple Historical Price Performance
Apple went public in December 1980 when it availed 4.6 million shares for sale to the public at an IPO price of $22. This helped the technology company raise more than $100 Million in capital and was considered the most successful IPO of the time. The AAPL stock price started rallying immediately, giving the company a market valuation of over $1.7 Billion.
Forty-two years later, Apple has sustained an overall uptrending share price action. It has survived multiple internal leadership challenges and external forces like disrupted supply chains, competition, and economic meltdowns to become the most valuable technology company worldwide. Throughout this time, it has grown its IPO price by more than 108,000% – making it one of the most lucrative stock investments of the last four decades.
On average, Apple shares have appreciated by 18% annually since their listing with NASDAQ in 1980. This makes it more profitable than both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 indices and most other tech and software stocks.
Like most other fast-growing technology companies – including Amazon and Alphabet – Apple has been subjected to five stock splits. These first three were 2-to-1 splits in 1987, 2000, and 2005, followed by a 7-to-1 split in 2014 and the most recent 4-to-1 split in 2020. This implies that if you bought one Apple stock at IPO in 1980, you would currently have 224 Apple shares today.
If you, therefore, had invested $100 in Apple – receiving 4.5 shares in 1980 – this investment would currently be worth more than $141,120 (at the time of writing) and more than $183,456 (in early 2022 when AAPL hit the current all-time high price of $182).
Read More: Apple Stock Price Prediction
Factors Affecting Apple Share Prices
Looking at Apple’s price history, you will note that it is not uncommon for its share price to post triple-digit percentage growths in 12 months. During the dot-com bubble in 1998, for example, AAPL stock rallied by 211%.
It is also not uncommon for the stock to crash and record devastating price drops. During the dot-com bubble crash in 2001, for instance, AAPL shares shed 71% of their value, and in the year to date (2022), Apple is down by more than 20%.
Before buying Apple shares today, you need to familiarize yourself with and learn how to interpret the different factors contributing to such volatilities for Apple stock. Here are a few:
- Company revenues: Apple is both a growth and dividend stock. Its revenues and revenue projections, therefore, don’t just impact its projected growth but also influence dividend rates. Therefore, positive projections on higher revenues and higher dividends create optimism around the brand and push up its token prices – and vice versa.
- Growth projections: Like most other technology companies, Apple has assumed a multi-fronted approach to growth. Over the last few years, it has ventured into several tech-related businesses, including digital streaming with Apple TV, cloud services through iCloud, mobile payment services through Apple Pay, and music streaming with Apple Music. The growth projections for Apple and all its affiliates have a direct impact on Apple’s stock performance.
- Macroeconomics: Forces outside of Apple’s control will also have a direct impact on its share price. These include lockdowns and disrupted global supply chains in China that affect iPhone release, rising inflation and interest rates, political tensions like the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, and even trade tiffs like the extended US-China trade feuds.
- Product releases: Apple shares almost always rally in the days or months leading to a major product release, such as the recent iPhone 14 or M2 chip announcement. They also rally when Apple makes an addition to its growing list of businesses. They often then plateau or dip soon after the announcement, depending on how well the news was received.
- Competition: Apple faces stiff competition from equally popular tech brands across all its businesses. For example, iOS faces stiff completion from Android and Microsoft, iPhone competes with Samsung and Huawei, iCloud faces competition from Amazon AWS, Apple TV competes for attention with Prime Video and Netflix and Disney Plus, and more. All these have a direct impact on Apple stock prices.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.
Step 3: Open A Share Investor Account And Buy Apple Stock
You now know where to buy Apple shares and how to find a share broker in 2023. We have also told you everything you need to know about Apple Inc. and its historical share price action.
We now need to go over the actual Apple stock buy process. And to help with this illustration, we will provide you with a detailed beginner’s guide on how to buy AAPL shares at zero commission from the massively popular eToro copy trading platform.
Here is the detailed step-by-step buy process:
1. Open a stock broker account
Start by registering a free share investor account with eToro. The registration process is quick and straightforward. The broker will only ask for basic personal details like your name and email address, country of residence and phone number, as well as your income source and trading experience.
2. Verify your identity
Since eToro is a regulated broker, it is required by law to subject its clients to KYC checks. You will, therefore, be required to submit a government-issued identification document - such as a national ID, passport, and driver’s license during account registration.
3. Deposit funds
eToro will then send you an email notification informing you that your account has been approved. Log in to your broker account and hit the “Deposit Now” icon. On the funding tab that pops up, choose one of the supported payment options and follow the prompts to complete the cash deposit.
5. Buy Apple stock
Once the funds reflect in your user account, click on the ‘Discover’ button to reveal the supported trade instruments. Choose to buy ‘Shares’ and find Apple from the list of supported shares. Click on the ‘BUY’ option against the AAPL stock, then use the trading tab that pops up to customize this trade. Complete the trade by hitting the “Open Trade” button.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.
Apple Stock Strengths And Weaknesses
Is the Apple stock worth buying in 2023? This is the question you need to ask yourself while analyzing the different factors influencing Apple share prices.
To help you make this important decision, we have come up with four great reasons why every stock investor should consider buying Apple right now and two reasons why you should have it sit on your stock investment watchlist for a little bit longer.
Strengths - Reasons to Buy Apple Stock
- Proven resilience: Even with the looming recession, you should consider investing in Apple shares because of the tech giant. It has proved its resilience and ability to survive even the most devastating economic turmoil. This should give you confidence that it will rebound from the current dip and survive the possible market crash expected in 2023.
- Promising future: Apple has a wildly promising future. Its ventures in AI, digital streaming, cloud computing, and more are all in their nascent stages and ready to blow. Together with new product releases, they are expected to catapult AAPL shares and the company’s market cap to newer heights.
- Consistent dividend payouts: You should also consider buying Apple shares today if you are looking for a consistent source of passive income. The company has been very consistent in paying dividends and is one of the few big-tech brands that pay dividends. In fact, Apple is the only company in the FAANG classification as one of a handful of large-cap tech companies that distributes dividends to shareholders.
- Highly liquid: Apple is also one of the liquid and easily available big tech stocks - which makes it easy to dispose of or day trade. It is currently listed with virtually all the most popular online share brokerages.
Weaknesses - Reasons to Buy Apple Stock
- Looming recession: Though resilient and quick to rebound, Apple is not a good stock to hold during a recession. During the 2000 dot-com and 2008 financial crisis, for instance, AAPL dumped 71% and 56% of its worth – respectively. With everyone expecting the world economy to enter into a recession in the next few months, now may not be the best time to buy Apple shares.
- Competition: Apple faces stiff competition in virtually every market it has ventured into, including AI, digital streaming, and cloud computing. It also faces harsh criticism because of its 30% charge on App Stores sales from both the app developers and the US Government. These, too, have contributed to its slowed growth and dented its growth projections, which has had a direct impact on its stock price.
For more guides on how to buy shares check out our other stock buying guides:
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Conclusion - How To Buy Apple Stock
There goes everything you need to know about buying Apple shares in 2023. Here, we not only discussed the stock buying process in detail but also told you everything you need to know about the Apple brand and its historical share price performance.
This AAPL stock investing guide also introduces you to some of the factors that you ought to consider before investing in AAPL. But even more importantly, we help you decide if Apple shares are worth buying in 2023 by looking at reasons to buy the stock and reasons not to buy.
Want to start buying Apple stock right away? Use the beginner’s guide outlined above, teaching you how to buy your first stock on the user-friendly and multi-regulated eToro brokerage.
eToro – Best Place To Buy Apple (AAPL) Stock
Open an account with eToro, deposit some funds with USD, and finally – buy Apple Shares from just $10.
Your capital is at risk. Other fees apply.
Read More:
FAQs About How To Buy Apple Stock
Where do I buy Apple stock today?
Apple stock is listed with arguably all the most popular online brokerages, including eToro and Webull. In the above guide, we have also discussed a few factors that you should consider when looking for the best online brokerage to buy Apple shares.
Does Apple pay dividends?
Yes, Apple has been consistent in paying dividends - distributed quarterly. For the first quarter of 2022, for example, Apple paid out a dividend per share of $0.22 and a dividend per share of $0.23 for the second, third, and fourth quarters of the year.
How do I start investing in Apple stock?
It is simple. Start by registering a share investor account with a reputable online brokerage like eToro. Proceed to fund this account and then choose to buy Apple on their list of supported shares.
Is Apple stock a good long-term buy?
Yes, two primary factors make Apple a solid long-term buy. First, Apple is a massively resilient stock and company that rebounds quickly and rallies to newer heights after even the most devastating market crash. Secondly, Apple has invested in multiple tech markets - effectively growing its base and guaranteeing its future growth.