Apple's Chart Heading Into Earnings
Apple (AAPL) stock is up about 125-126% over the last five years. It traded sideways through 2023-2024, then climbed in a steady stair-step higher. Year to date in 2026 it is up about 28% as of the prior close, sitting near $345.
Valuation looks stretched on a historical basis, but the stock keeps outperforming on product super cycles and growing services revenue.
Key chart levels:
- 50-day simple moving average sits near $332, a possible support area. The stock has not traded below that level since August.
- RSI over the last 12 months is about 61, above the 50 midline but not overbought. Every time RSI touched above 70 (overbought), the stock pulled back quickly.
- All-time high of about $351.73, hit last week, sits roughly $6.5 above the expected open near $345.
Volume profile support levels: a heavy point of reference around $311 to the downside, and a volume node near the 50-day average at $332-$337. To the upside there is little resistance until the all-time high.
The open question is whether this earnings report pushes Apple (AAPL) to new highs.
The Trade: A Bullish Call Vertical
This is an earnings play with 7 days to expiration, using the November 6th weekly options, which expire next Friday.
Instead of just buying a single call (directional, but hurt by high implied volatility going into the earnings event), the trade offsets some cost with a vertical spread:
- Buy the in-the-money 340 call (the bullish leg, higher delta, moves more like the stock).
- Sell the 355 strike call against it.
This makes a bullish $15-wide call vertical. The debit paid is roughly $6, maybe closer to $7 (priced when the stock was around $342), so about $600. That debit is the total risk.
Break-even lands at $346, only about 1% above the current share price, so a small upward move clears it.
The 355 short strike was chosen because the November 6th weekly options price in a move of about plus or minus $15 in the shares. The $346 break-even sits well within that one standard deviation expected move.
The payoff: risk about $600 to make about $900 if the stock climbs back toward its all-time highs. This fits a directionally bullish view that Apple (AAPL) revisits or sets new highs on the report.
