Apple Inc. (AAPL)vs Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN)

Quick verdict

The simplest fact about this pair is that only one of them made money. Apple earned net income of $128.9bn on revenue of $466.8bn in the twelve months to 27 June 2026, a 27.6% net margin. Coinbase, over the twelve months to 30 June 2026, booked revenue of $6.3bn and a net loss of $1.0bn, or -$3.79 per share, despite reporting positive operating profit of $0.6bn. That loss means no meaningful price-to-earnings comparison exists here, and the sales and book multiples do the work instead: Apple trades at 10.7x sales and 46.6x book at the 14 October 2026 close, against Coinbase at 7.3x sales and 3.5x book. Our scoring gave Coinbase valuation and income and Apple nothing outright, with growth, quality, balance sheet and momentum all unscored; the overall tally came out 4 to 2 in Coinbase's favour. Styles differ sharply: mature and high-quality versus high-growth.

At-a-glance comparison

Not scored — Growth: no three-year EPS growth for COIN. Quality: no gross margin for COIN. Balance sheet: no interest coverage for AAPL. Momentum: no share-price return data for either company. A factor missing a figure for either company cannot be won by either, so it adds half a point to each score, as a tie does.

Business model and revenue mix

Apple designs and sells iPhone, Mac, iPad and wearables, with a services arm spanning the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Pay — a consumer electronics business inside the technology sector, listed on Nasdaq. Coinbase, also Nasdaq-listed but classified under financial services and capital markets, operates a cryptocurrency exchange and custody platform, earning transaction fees alongside subscription and services revenue. The scale gap is enormous: Apple's trailing revenue of $466.8bn is roughly seventy times Coinbase's $6.3bn, and its market capitalisation of $5,005.2bn dwarfs Coinbase's $45.5bn. The economics differ as much as the size. Apple's revenue is tied to hardware replacement cycles and an installed-base services annuity; Coinbase's transaction fees rise and fall with crypto trading volumes, which is one reason its reported earnings can swing from profit to loss within a single twelve-month window.

Valuation

Coinbase takes the valuation factor, and the reason is partly that Apple's multiples have become demanding rather than that Coinbase looks cheap in absolute terms. At the 14 October 2026 close, Apple changes hands at 39.3x trailing earnings, 10.7x sales, 46.6x book and 30.1x EV/EBITDA, with a PEG of 5.72 and a free cash flow yield of 2.73%. Coinbase trades at 7.25x sales and 3.48x book — both well below Apple — though its EV/EBITDA of 49.7x is the higher of the two. No price-to-earnings ratio exists for Coinbase because it lost $1.0bn over the trailing twelve months; a negative earnings multiple is not a number worth quoting. The honest reading is that Coinbase is cheaper on the two revenue- and asset-based measures that remain usable across both, while being more expensive on cash earnings.

Growth profile

The growth factor could not be scored, because Coinbase's three-year earnings-per-share CAGR is unavailable — that figure is not computed when EPS was a loss at either end of the window, which is the case here, and its five-year EPS growth was withheld as uninterpretable for the same underlying reason. On revenue, the contrast is stark. Coinbase compounded sales at 31.0% a year from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 and 41.2% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025. Apple grew revenue at just 1.81% annually over the three years from fiscal 2022 and 8.68% over the five years from fiscal 2020 — the five-year figure flattered by a strong pandemic-era upswing early in the window. Apple's EPS growth of 6.88% (three-year) and 17.86% (five-year) outpaced its own sales, reflecting buybacks.

Profitability and quality

Quality went unscored here too: no gross margin is available for Coinbase, so the usual like-for-like margin stack cannot be built. What is available still tells a clear story. Apple converted 48.65% of revenue into gross profit, 33.17% into operating profit and 27.62% into net profit over the twelve months to June 2026. Coinbase managed a 9.86% operating margin on its trailing revenue but a net margin of -15.72%, meaning items below the operating line turned a $0.6bn operating profit into a $1.0bn net loss. Apple also generated $136.7bn of free cash flow against $154.9bn of operating income — cash conversion close to one-for-one. On every profitability measure both companies report, Apple is ahead by a wide margin, even though the factor itself carries no winner.

Balance-sheet risk

Neither side wins the balance sheet, because Apple's interest coverage cannot be calculated — that ratio needs both operating profit and a reported interest expense, and the latter is absent from Apple's figures. Coinbase's coverage stands at 6.92x. On the balance sheet dated 30 June 2026, Coinbase held $8.6bn of cash against $6.5bn of total debt, a net cash position reflected in net debt to EBITDA of -2.44x, and a current ratio of 2.42. Apple, as at 27 June 2026, carried $39.5bn of cash against $84.3bn of debt — a net debt position, but only 0.27x EBITDA given the scale of its earnings — with a current ratio of exactly 1.0. Coinbase has the more liquid structure in relative terms; Apple's leverage is trivial against its cash generation.

Price performance and shareholder returns

Returns on capital favour Apple decisively. Over the trailing twelve months it produced a 148.75% return on equity and 84.08% return on invested capital. The ROE figure deserves a caveat: shareholders' equity of $107.5bn has been shrunk by years of buybacks, so ROIC is the more honest measure of the underlying economics — and at 84% it remains exceptional. Coinbase returned 4.47% on invested capital and -7.85% on equity, the latter negative because of the trailing net loss. On shareholder distributions, Coinbase won the income factor despite paying no dividend at all: its buyback yield of 4.47% exceeds Apple's combined 0.31% dividend yield and 1.64% buyback yield. Apple's payout ratio of 12.13% leaves ample room for the dividend, but the headline yield is slim at the current price.

Which stock fits which investor

These two suit different mandates almost entirely. An investor prioritising demonstrated profitability, cash generation and returns on capital would look to Apple: $136.7bn of free cash flow, 84% ROIC and a 27.6% net margin are rare at any size. The cost is a 39.3x earnings multiple, 46.6x book and three-year revenue growth of 1.81%. Someone focused on top-line expansion would note Coinbase's 31% three-year and 41% five-year revenue CAGRs, accepting a trailing net loss of $1.0bn and the trading-volume sensitivity behind it. Our best-fit picks named Coinbase for value, growth and income — growth and income on a single figure each, revenue growth and dividend yield respectively, because those factors could not be fully scored — and Apple for quality on return on invested capital alone. Neither profile is a substitute for the other.

• Value: COIN
• Growth: COIN
• Income: COIN
• Quality: AAPL

Frequently asked questions

Which of Apple and Coinbase was profitable over the trailing twelve months?

Apple was. It reported net income of $128.9bn on revenue of $466.8bn for the twelve months to 27 June 2026, a net margin of 27.62%. Coinbase reported a net loss of $987.8m on revenue of $6.3bn for the twelve months to 30 June 2026, equal to -$3.79 per share and a net margin of -15.72%, even though its operating profit was positive at $619.4m.

Why is there no P/E ratio shown for Coinbase?

Because Coinbase lost money over the trailing period. With trailing EPS of -$3.79, a price-to-earnings ratio would be negative and carries no analytical meaning. The comparable multiples that do work across both companies are price-to-sales — 7.25x for Coinbase against 10.72x for Apple — and price-to-book, at 3.48x versus 46.55x, both as at the 14 October 2026 close.

Which company grew revenue faster?

Coinbase, by a wide margin. Its revenue compounded at 31.0% a year from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 and 41.24% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025. Apple's equivalents were 1.81% and 8.68%. The growth factor itself could not be scored, however, because Coinbase's three-year EPS CAGR is unavailable where earnings were a loss at one end of the window.

Does either company pay a dividend?

Only Apple. It paid $1.05 per share over the trailing twelve months, a yield of 0.31% at the current price, with a payout ratio of 12.13%. Coinbase pays nothing. Coinbase nevertheless took the income factor on total shareholder returns, with a buyback yield of 4.47% against Apple's 1.64% buyback yield plus its small dividend.

How do the two balance sheets compare?

Coinbase held $8.6bn of cash against $6.5bn of debt at 30 June 2026 — a net cash position, shown as net debt to EBITDA of -2.44x — with a current ratio of 2.42 and interest coverage of 6.92x. Apple held $39.5bn of cash against $84.3bn of debt at 27 June 2026, net debt of just 0.27x EBITDA, with a current ratio of 1.0. The factor was left unscored because Apple's interest coverage cannot be calculated without a reported interest expense.

Go deeper: guides for this comparison

• Balance-sheet risk: net debt, interest cover and the current ratioThe three numbers that show whether a company can carry its debt, how to read each one, and what they reveal about Pfizer, Intel, Disney and Palantir.
• Big tech compared: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon by the numbersThe largest technology companies on one table — growth, margins, the cash cost of the AI build-out, and what each valuation assumes — built from their SEC filings.
• How to compare bank stocks: JPMorgan vs Bank of AmericaWhy the usual ratios fail for banks, how price-to-book and return on equity work together, what our bank pages show, and the numbers you still need from the filings.
• Dividends vs buybacks: how companies hand cash back, and how to judge itDividend yield, payout ratio and buyback yield explained with real companies, why a high yield can be a warning, and how to tell whether a payout is sustainable.

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