How to buy Apple Stock: Invest in AAPL Shares (2023)

How to buy Apple stock (Step-by-step guide)

1. Choose a good stock broker

Since Apple is one of the few companies boasting a market capitalization of over $2 trillion, you can choose from a myriad of brokers to help you make the purchase. That said, consider the terms offered by each broker and make sure the broker you end up picking works with residents of your country. Below we highlight four brokers which offer Apple stock:

2. Open and fund your account

Once you have weighed the pros and cons of each broker, you are all set to open an account. The process usually takes a few days as the broker verifies your identity. After the process is finalised, you must deposit money into your account.

3. Place a “Buy Order”

If you have found an online broker that suits your needs, managed to open an investment account, and made the initial deposit, you are all set to buy your stock. All you have to do is find the share within your chosen broker and place a buy order. For this example, we will use eToro:

a) Search for Apple stock ( ticker “AAPL”):

eToro Search Bar showing Apple stock

b) Click “Trade”:

eToro Search Bar showing Apple stock

c) Choose the order details. Now, it’s time to choose how to invest:

eToro Order Entry Window

• Amount: You choose the amount you want to invest in Apple instead of the number of shares. In this way, your investments may be fully or partially in fractional shares.
• Units: As opposed to “Amount,” here you define the number of shares you want to purchase (note: you can buy using either “Amount” or “Units,” up to you!)
• Leverage: You can choose the level of leverage. “X1” means no leverage (if it were “X2” or above, you would not be trading real stocks, but CFDs on Apple stock instead). That’s why you see “you are buying the underlying asset.”
• Stop Loss: Define the maximum you are willing to lose before closing your position automatically;
• Take profit: Define the profit amount that makes you close your position automatically (if reached).

Stop Loss and Take Profit are not guaranteed and trading with leverage involves high risk.

Only the “Amount” (or “Units”) and “Leverage” are mandatory fields.

d) Place the order: Finally, click “Open Trade,” and a new window will show up where it says “order filled,” your exposure, and lets you share your trade with other people.

ETFs – an alternative way to gain exposure

ETFs allow you to gain exposure to a dozen or even hundreds of companies with a single investment. ETFs can be a good option if you:

• Want to complement your Apple position with similar companies;
• Want to limit your portfolio volatility (ETFs invest in many companies operating in different lines of business, limiting your exposure to idiosyncratic risks);
• Are interested in following a specific theme in your investments (technology stocks, information technology stocks, etc);

Some ETFs you may want to consider are:

• Vanguard Information Technology ETF (ticker VGT) tracks 364 stocks in the Information technology sector, although it is heavily skewed to large capitalization companies. The ETF distributes dividends, and the expense ratio stands at 0.10%. Apple carries the largest weight in the ETF at 23.52%, followed by Microsoft at 19.31%.
• Invesco QQQ (ticker QQQ) is a broad technology ETF following the Nasdaq-100 index. The ETF distributes dividends, and the expense ratio stands at 0.20%. The weight of Apple in the ETF is 12.32%, behind Microsoft at 12.96%.

Apple overview

The go-to place to find up-to-date information on the company is its investor relations section, available here. Below we will provide a quick overview of the company’s operations.

Apple has a fiscal year ending on the last Saturday of September (the company is currently in fiscal 2023) and reports sales in two broad categories:

• Products – roughly 80% of revenues
• Services  – around 20% of revenues

Products encompasses what the company is known for – the iPhone, the Mac, the iPad, as well as a broad category called “Wearables, Home and Accessories”. The segment got a big boost during the Covid-19 pandemic (+51% sales increase in fiscal 2021) but has seen growth slow down in recent quarters (even going negative in Q1-Q2 of fiscal 2023).

The segment has a lower profitability compared to Services, with a gross margin around 37% most recently.

Services covers a variety of activities, including Advertising, AppleCare (support and repair services), Cloud Services, Digital Content (covers the App Store and other platforms), Payment services (Apple Card & Apple Pay). The services segment has been a consistent grower over the past few years, with its revenue less exposed to product release cycles.

The segment boasts a very strong profitability, with a gross margin around 71%, almost double the Products segment.

From a geographic perspective, Apple is heavily exposed to revenue outside the U.S., with overseas revenue accounting for 60% of total sales. Thus keeping track of how the U.S. dollar is performing relative to other currencies can be helpful. An easy way to do so is the U.S. dollar index which measures the dollar’s performance relative to a basket of currencies.

As per the latest annual report (available here), Apple’s high margins are partially the result of outsourcing, making the company vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and/or geopolitical tensions:

Substantially all of the Company’s manufacturing is performed in whole or in part by outsourcing partners located primarily in Asia, including China mainland, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and a significant concentration of this manufacturing is currently performed by a small number of outsourcing partners, often in single locations

Last but not least, the company runs a very conservative capital structure, with a net cash position of around $57 billion as of Q2 2023. 

With the corporate reporting structure behind us, we are ready to move to the next step – picking the right broker.

Apple’s Financials and Performance

Once you have purchased Apple shares, it is a good idea to keep track of how the company and its competitors are doing. In doing so, you will get greater insight into whether to add to your position, hold it, or sell it to pursue better opportunities elsewhere.

Apart from the investor relation section (available here), there are specialised platforms to help you understand how Apple is doing from a financial perspective. One platform you can use is Koyfin – you can access Company overviews, Key statistics, Financials, Transcripts, and more! Get a 20% discount on Koyfin.

For example, Koyfin allows you to get a quick handle on how the company’s revenues and margins (as measured by gross profit) are doing:

Koyfin financial analysis tool (Get a 10% discount on Koyfin)

While such platforms cannot substitute your own research 100% of the time, they can be a very useful tool in the research process, saving you time and providing new investment ideas.

The Bottom Line

To sum it up, here’s what you need to do:

1. Find a suitable stock broker: Make sure the broker works with residents of your country. Consider the fees and market access of the broker should you choose to diversify with other shares or ETFs as well.
2. Open an account and deposit money: After deciding which trading platform to use, you must go through the account opening process and deposit money.
3. Send a buy order to your broker for the stock you like: That’s the easiest part (the process is intuitive)! After having your brokerage account funded, you just have to place a trade!  
4. Keep track of Apple’s financial developments: As prices move and new earnings reports are released, the relative attractiveness of Apple versus other companies may change. Platforms like Koyfin can help you navigate the markets!

We hope that this post addressed some of your concerns. Make sure to do your research to find the best investing strategy for you!

Please let us know in the comments if you have any doubts or suggestions.

Happy investing!