Apple Inc. (AAPL)vs Intel Corporation (INTC)

Quick verdict

The simplest fact on this page is the one that shapes everything else: over the twelve months to 27 June 2026, Apple earned $128.9bn of net income on $466.8bn of revenue, while Intel lost $11.3bn on $57.0bn. That makes any side-by-side of earnings multiples meaningless — Intel has no usable P/E because there are no earnings to divide by. Apple took the quality factor (33.2% operating margin against Intel's -0.1%) and the income factor, being the only one of the pair paying anything at all. Valuation finished too close to call, with Apple's richer sales and book multiples set against Intel's higher EV/EBITDA of 43.3x. Growth, the balance sheet and momentum could not be scored for the reasons set out below. The overall tally was 4 points to Apple, 2 to Intel, at the 14 October 2026 close.

At-a-glance comparison

Not scored — Growth: no three-year EPS growth for INTC. 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

These two sit in the same sector and share almost nothing structurally. Apple designs and sells iPhone, Mac, iPad and wearables alongside a services arm spanning the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music and Apple Pay — an asset-light model that outsources manufacturing and monetises an installed base. Intel designs and fabricates CPUs and other chips for PCs and data centres and is simultaneously building a contract foundry, meaning it carries the capital intensity of owning fabs as well as the design risk. Scale differs by roughly eight times on revenue: $466.8bn against $57.0bn in the twelve months to June 2026, with market capitalisations of $5,005.2bn and $494.9bn respectively at the 14 October 2026 close. Both report a true operating-income line, so no proxy measure is needed for either.

Valuation

Scored as a tie, and genuinely close rather than unscored. Apple trades on 10.7x trailing sales, 46.6x book and 30.1x EV/EBITDA, with a free cash flow yield of 2.73% and a PEG of 5.72 at the 14 October 2026 close. Intel looks cheaper on the headline ratios investors can still compute — 8.7x sales and 5.7x book — but is dearer on 43.3x EV/EBITDA and yields only 0.57% on free cash flow of $2.8bn. The usual tiebreaker, the price-to-earnings ratio, is simply unavailable on Intel's side: a trailing loss of $2.09 per share leaves nothing to capitalise. Apple's multiples are high but attached to profits; Intel's are lower but attached to a business that did not earn a return over the period. Neither case is clearly stronger on the figures held.

Growth profile

This factor could not be scored, because Intel's three-year earnings-per-share growth rate is absent — it is not computed when EPS was a loss at either end of the window, and Intel's trailing EPS is -$2.09. What the revenue record does show is a divergence. Apple compounded sales at 1.81% a year from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 and 8.68% a year from fiscal 2020, with EPS growth of 6.88% and 17.86% over the same two windows — the five-year figure flattered by a far lower starting point. Intel's revenue shrank, at -5.71% a year from fiscal 2022 and -7.46% a year from fiscal 2020. On revenue growth alone, Apple is the stronger of the two, and that single figure is the sole basis for the growth pick here.

Profitability and quality

Margins are where the gap widens from large to categorical. Apple converted 48.65% of revenue into gross profit, 33.17% into operating profit and 27.62% into net profit in the twelve months to June 2026. Intel's gross margin of 38.60% is respectable for a manufacturer, but operating margin came in at -0.14% and net margin at -19.79%, the latter reflecting the $11.3bn loss. Free cash flow tells the same story at different magnitudes: $136.7bn for Apple against $2.8bn for Intel, the Intel figure positive despite the accounting loss. Returns follow: Apple's 84.08% return on invested capital and 148.75% return on equity versus -0.05% and -11.68% at Intel. Apple takes the quality factor outright, and it is not a marginal win on any of these measures.

Balance-sheet risk

Leverage could not be scored, because interest coverage is unavailable on both sides for different reasons: Apple's requires both operating profit and a reported interest expense, and that expense line is not present, while Intel's was withheld as not interpretable, its operating result for the period being a loss of $77m. The figures that do exist point in opposite directions. Apple holds $39.5bn of cash against $84.3bn of total debt, a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.27x and a current ratio of exactly 1.0 as at 27 June 2026. Intel holds $12.9bn of cash against $50.5bn of debt, giving net debt of 3.06x EBITDA, though its current ratio of 1.60 is the more comfortable of the two. A fab-owning balance sheet carries obligations an outsourced model does not.

Price performance and shareholder returns

Shareholder cash flows barely compare. Apple paid $1.05 per share over the trailing year for a 0.31% yield, covered many times over by a payout ratio of just 12.13%, and retired stock equivalent to a 1.64% buyback yield. Intel paid no dividend at all and repurchased nothing, which is consistent with a year in which it lost $11.3bn and generated $2.8bn of free cash flow against heavy capital needs. Apple therefore wins the income factor, though the absolute yield on offer is slim and most of the return of capital arrives through buybacks rather than dividends. Momentum could not be assessed for either company: we hold no licensed share-price history, so one-year, three-year and five-year returns are unavailable on both sides and that factor is never scored on this site.

Which stock fits which investor

Apple suits an investor prioritising demonstrated profitability and cash generation, and willing to pay 39.3x trailing earnings and 46.6x book for it — the premium is explicit in the 5.72 PEG and the 2.73% free cash flow yield. Its 148.75% return on equity is partly a function of a slim $107.5bn equity base after years of buybacks, so the 84.08% return on invested capital is the fairer read. Intel appeals to a different temperament entirely: a turnaround case priced at 5.65x book and 8.7x sales, where the investment question is whether foundry economics can reverse a -5.71% three-year revenue trend and a -19.79% net margin. Income seekers have only one option here, and a modest one at 0.31%. Neither profile is scored for price momentum on this page.

• Value: Too close to call
• Growth: AAPL
• Income: AAPL
• Quality: AAPL

Frequently asked questions

Why is there no P/E ratio for Intel?

Intel lost $11.3bn in the twelve months to 27 June 2026, equivalent to -$2.09 per share. A price-to-earnings ratio cannot be calculated against negative earnings, so comparisons with Apple's 39.33x trailing P/E would be meaningless.

Which company is larger?

Apple, by a wide margin on both measures. Revenue of $466.8bn over the trailing twelve months is roughly eight times Intel's $57.0bn, and its market capitalisation of $5,005.2bn is about ten times Intel's $494.9bn at the 14 October 2026 close.

Does Intel pay a dividend?

No. Intel's dividend yield is 0% and its buyback yield is also 0%. Apple paid $1.05 per share over the trailing year, a 0.31% yield, with a payout ratio of 12.13% and a 1.64% buyback yield.

Is Intel cheaper than Apple?

It depends on the measure, which is why the valuation factor was a tie. Intel is cheaper on price-to-sales (8.68x versus 10.72x) and price-to-book (5.65x versus 46.55x), but more expensive on EV/EBITDA at 43.29x against Apple's 30.07x, with a free cash flow yield of 0.57% versus 2.73%.

Which has the stronger balance sheet?

The factor could not be scored, as interest coverage is unavailable for Apple and was withheld as not interpretable for Intel. On the figures held, Apple carries net debt of 0.27x EBITDA versus Intel's 3.06x, while Intel has the better current ratio at 1.60 against 1.00.

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.
• 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.
• EV/EBITDA explained: valuing the whole business, not just the sharesHow enterprise value and EBITDA work, why EV/EBITDA and P/E can disagree by a mile, its blind spots, and what the gap tells you about Alphabet, Amazon and Micron.
• How the six-factor score works — and where it falls shortThe exact rules behind every TickerVerdict verdict: what each of the six factors measures, how ties are decided, a worked example, and the score's real limits.

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