Apple Inc.'s return on equity: 3 definitions, 3 answers
Depending on which definition is used, Apple Inc.'s return on equity for FY2025 is anywhere from 151.91% to 171.42%, every one of them arithmetically correct and all of them out of the same filing.
Computed from Apple Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal 2025, the year ended 2025-09-27, filed 2025-10-31, 34 days after the books closed. Accession 0000320193-25-000079 Reported in USD.
The same filing, read 3 ways
| Definition | Formula, in filed line items | Measured over | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income over closing equityours | netIncome / totalStockholdersEquity | One filed fiscal year | 151.91% |
| Net income over average equity | netIncome / ((totalStockholdersEquity this year + totalStockholdersEquity last year) / 2) | Two filed balance sheets | 171.42% |
| Net income over total equity including minority interests | netIncome / totalEquity | One filed fiscal year | 151.91% |
Highest over lowest, a factor of 1.13.
- Net income over closing equity
- Net income 112.01 bn USD, Total stockholders' equity 73.73 bn USD, giving 151.91%. This is the one the product prints.
- Net income over average equity
- Net income 112.01 bn USD, Total stockholders' equity 73.73 bn USD, Total stockholders' equity (prior year) 56.95 bn USD, giving 171.42%. Reading it instead of the one the product prints moves the answer by +19.51 pts.
- Net income over total equity including minority interests
- Net income 112.01 bn USD, Total equity 73.73 bn USD, giving 151.91%. Same answer as the one the product prints, to two decimals.
Our own figure for AAPL: 151.91%. That is the net income over closing equity line above.
The definitions disagree by 19.51 pts on this filer, against 9.26 pts between the median and the top quartile of the 4574-company cohort. Which definition you happened to read moves the answer further than a quarter of the market does.
Is that a lot
Apple Inc.'s 151.91% (FY2025, on the definition this product prints) is +148.35 pts against the 3.55% median of the 4574 filers holding a return on equity on 2026-10-21. Every mark, and the distance from it:
| Mark | Every filer (4574) | Distance | Technology (671) | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p5 | -215.01% | +366.92 pts | -225.43% | +377.34 pts |
| p10 | -114.44% | +266.35 pts | -116.24% | +268.15 pts |
| p25 | -29.22% | +181.13 pts | -27.92% | +179.83 pts |
| p50 | 3.55% | +148.35 pts | 1.12% | +150.79 pts |
| p75 | 12.82% | +139.09 pts | 14.47% | +137.44 pts |
| p90 | 25.45% | +126.46 pts | 30.28% | +121.63 pts |
| p95 | 39.61% | +112.30 pts | 48.27% | +103.64 pts |
A distance is not a verdict. What the marks mean, and what this metric hides
Nothing here is quoted from another publisher, and none of these is called wrong.
What this page leaves out
Evaluated over 10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025. Accounts filed before this company began tagging its statements in XBRL are not machine-readable and are outside this page. No share price is involved in any figure here, so nothing on this page is limited by the depth of our price archive.
Filings get mis-tagged and restated, so check a figure against the submission it names. Coverage for a company you own.