Apple Inc.: would “return on equity stays at or above 15 percent” have held?
It would never have broken. Return on equity stays at or above 15 percent held in every one of the 10 fiscal years it could be tested in.
On the newest filing, FY2025 lodged 2025-10-31, it stands +136.91 pts from the line, at 151.91%.
Year by year, against the filings
| Fiscal year | Return on equity | On the year | Against 15% | Clear by | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 35.62% | n/a | held | +20.62 pts | 2016-10-26 10-K 0001628280-16-020309 |
| FY2017 | 36.07% | +0.45 pts | held | +21.07 pts | 2017-11-03 10-K 0000320193-17-000070 |
| FY2018 | 55.56% | +19.49 pts | held | +40.56 pts | 2018-11-05 10-K 0000320193-18-000145 |
| FY2019 | 61.06% | +5.50 pts | held | +46.06 pts | 2019-10-31 10-K 0000320193-19-000119 |
| FY2020 | 87.87% | +26.81 pts | held | +72.87 pts | 2020-10-30 10-K 0000320193-20-000096 |
| FY2021 | 150.07% | +62.20 pts | held | +135.07 pts | 2021-10-29 10-K 0000320193-21-000105 |
| FY2022 | 196.96% | +46.89 pts | held | +181.96 pts | 2022-10-28 10-K 0000320193-22-000108 |
| FY2023 | 156.08% | -40.88 pts | held | +141.08 pts | 2023-11-03 10-K 0000320193-23-000106 |
| FY2024 | 164.59% | +8.51 pts | held | +149.59 pts | 2024-11-01 10-K 0000320193-24-000123 |
| FY2025 | 151.91% | -12.68 pts | held | +136.91 pts | 2025-10-31 10-K 0000320193-25-000079 |
What the series does
- Largest single-year move. FY2020 to FY2021, from 87.87% to 150.07%, a change of +62.20 pts, filed 2021-10-29 under 0000320193-21-000105. The filing is the place to read why; this reports the size and nothing about the cause. The average move between filed years, in either direction, is 24.82%, which is the scale of ordinary movement to judge a threshold against.
- Largest single-year fall. FY2022 to FY2023, from 196.96% to 156.08%, a change of -40.88 pts.
- Closest to the line. FY2016, at 35.62% against 15%, which is 20.62 pts clear of it. A threshold set anywhere inside that gap would have produced a different answer for this company.
- Span of the filed series. Lowest in FY2016 at 35.62%, highest in FY2022 at 196.96%, averaging 109.58% across the years that could be tested.
- Where the answer would flip. Any line at or below 35.62% would have held in every year that could be tested. Anything above it would have broken in FY2016 at the latest.
- First filed year to newest. FY2016 at 35.62%, FY2025 at 151.91%, a net +116.29 pts across the window on file. The path between them is the column above, not a straight line between these two.
10 of 10 filed years could be tested. A missing figure counts as neither held nor broken.
How demanding 15% is
Against the 4574 companies holding this figure on 2026-10-21, that line sits between the p75 mark of 12.82% and the p90 mark of 25.45%, which says how demanding it is and nothing about where to set it.
The threshold is the reader's to choose. This is what one would have done, not advice. Where this line comes from
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.
Related
- Why Apple Inc.'s return on equity is published at several different values
- Ask this about your own company, at your own number
- Johnson & Johnson against the same line. It would have broken in 1 of 11.
- The current ratio stays at or above 2.0, on the same filings. It would have broken in 10 of 10.
- Gross margin stays at or above 40 percent, on the same filings. It would have broken in 5 of 10.
- Revenue grows by at least 5 percent a year, on the same filings. It would have broken in 3 of 9.
- Free cash flow stays above zero, on the same filings. It held in all 10 years on file.