For dominant technology firms like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), rapid growth is expected and milestone moments occur frequently. For example, Apple’s current market capitalization stands at nearly $4 trillion, a staggering figure.
However, there’s another number that Apple’s loyal shareholders are looking forward to: the AAPL stock price rising above $300. Investors have hoped to see a share-price breakout for a while, and 2026’s first quarter could be bring significant gains.
Yet, no one can force Apple stock to break through $300 and investors need to be patient. The wise move isn’t to overload your portfolio with Apple shares. Instead, we need to stop and think about what needs to happen before the stock can make its next big move.
Valuation Should Cool Off
First and foremost, investors should anticipate a cooling-off period for AAPL stock. Take a glance at the long-term price chart and you’ll notice an identifiable growth pattern.
Impressively, Apple stock has doubled during the past five years. It wasn’t a straight, uninterrupted path higher, however. The general pattern is a choppy sideways period followed by an eventual rally.
Since AAPL stock recently had a powerful rally from $170 to $270, long-term shareholders should understand that a sideways consolidation period is to be expected. Again, you can’t rush the process; you just have to let it play out.
Furthermore, after the aforementioned stock-price rally, Apple’s valuation needs to cool off. Notably, Apple’s trailing 12-month (TTM) price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 34.14x is above the sector median P/E ratio of 23.99x.
More alarmingly, Apple’s TTM price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 9.21x. That’s quite elevated when compared to the sector median P/S ratio of 3.43x. Hence, value-focused investors may have to wait a while before a sensible, sustainable stock-price move can occur.
Shareholders Want to See More Growth
To a certain extent, Apple’s lofty valuation may be justified by the company’s outstanding financial results. On the other hand, there’s a drawback to Apple’s massive success as investors may come to expect super-strong, record-breaking growth.
Not long ago, Apple released the results for its fiscal 2026 first quarter. Apple CEO Tim Cook had a lot to brag about, and it wasn’t empty bragging as the numbers were generally positive.
Cook touted Apple’s “remarkable, record-breaking quarter” featuring revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16% year over year and “well above our expectations.” The CEO also celebrated Apple’s “all-time records across every geographic segment,” noting that the company’s Services business “achieved an all-time revenue record, up 14 percent from a year ago.”
At this point, investors might just assume that Apple will continue to break one record after another. That’s a dangerous attitude as it’s a potential setup for disappointment.
Adding fuel to the fire, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh declared that the company’s “record business performance and strong margins led to” 19% EPS growth.” This, Parekh added, set a “new all-time EPS record” for Apple.
We don’t have to blame the CEO and CFO for enjoying Apple’s rapid progress. Still, getting Apple to $300 and, just as importantly, keeping it there means that investors need to have reasonable expectations. Otherwise, AAPL stock could get stuck in a prolonged sideways or down period.
Supply Constraints Could Be an Issue
It might seem reasonable to assume that Apple’s blockbuster iPhone sales would be good news. However, it’s not entirely positive that Apple is moving so many gadgets at a breakneck pace.
Cook seemed to acknowledge that Apple’s balance of product supply and demand is fragile in 2026. “We exited December with very lean channel inventory,” he acknowledged.
The CEO continued, “Based on that, we are in a supply chase mode to meet the very high levels of customer demand.” The unspoken implication here is that Apple’s current and future revenue could be capped by severe component supply constraints.
Before AAPL stock can blast past $300 and stay above that key level for the long term, Cook will need to provide a timeline. He should specifically answer the question of when component supply and demand will come back into a relative state of balance.
Cook doesn’t have to be a fortune teller. He only needs to reassure the shareholders that Apple has the supply constraint issue under control, especially when it comes to memory chips.
So, as you can see, a few questions and issues ought to be addressed in the near future for Apple. Otherwise, it will be more difficult for AAPL stock to rise above $300 and continue toward higher price milestones in 2026.