Much like its FAANG peers, Apple (AAPL) stock saw a tremendous and unexpected boost in 2020, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As the stock is trading sideways so far in 2021, what’s next for the technology giant’s shares?

First off, we cannot count on a repeat of last year’s stunning stock market performance. Future returns from here are more than likely to be modest. Given its massive size, both in terms of market capitalization ($2.22 trillion) and annual revenue ($325.4 billion), it’s going to be tough for Apple to continue growing at an above-average clip.

This may make AAPL unappealing to growth stock investors. How about for investors looking for lower-risk, more stable long-term holdings? Apple continues to morph into such a play. Between its growing dividend, blue chip underlying business, and reasonable valuation, shares could provide solid returns over a long time frame. (See Apple Stock Chart on TipRanks)

Just keep in mind that, for now, shares may hold steady (around $130 per share) as the market weighs the tech sector’s post-pandemic prospects, as well as the recent rise in inflation.

AAPL Stock and Slowing Growth

Pandemic tailwinds, coupled with last fall’s release of the iPhone 12, are helping to make this current fiscal year (ending September 2021) a banner one for Apple.

Analyst consensus calls for 29% revenue growth this fiscal year. Earnings? Projections call for a 57.25% increase from FY2020. The anticipation of this elevated growth helped shares more than double, from $60 per share, to as much as $144.63 per share. Now, with estimated growth in the next fiscal year (ending September 2022) much more modest (3.92% revenue growth, 2.7% earnings growth), investors have less reason to bid up shares.

Sure, there have been some positive developments as of late. Apple’s keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference helped to bolster confidence that, despite its mammoth size, growth could carry on in the coming years.

Apple’s faster growing segments, like wearables (watches) and services (such as the app store, and its increasing move into streaming) could help drive results that exceed the above-mentioned projections. However, until investors see this play out in its financials, it’s going to be hard for shares to move much higher from here. That being said, there’s no reason to believe that “the party’s over” for AAPL stock.

Apple’s Strengths as a Defensive Stock

Apple may not be set to repeat its FY2021 success in FY2022. Analyst estimates for the upcoming fiscal year may look anemic compared to the company’s results over the past four quarters.