with the federal reserves rate decision now in the rear view mirror the next major test for markets will come from apple s march quarter earnings scheduled for release postmarket thursday so far this year investors have flocked to the tech sector as bond yields fall  and the recent bank crisis spurred a flight to safety in companies offering rocksolid balance sheets and cash flows stocks in tech behemoths such as apple have been resilient in 2023 despite concerns of an economic downturn meta platforms shares have doubled while alphabet and microsoft are up about 20 and 28 respectively as investors bet on ai  apple shares are up almost 31 this year apple on thursday is expected to post its second consecutive down quarter with some analysts anticipating forward guidance to show yet another yearoveryear decline in the june quarter the largest tech companies so far this earnings season appear to be faring betterthanfeared despite expectations for broad earnings declines compared to a year ago now investors are anxiously waiting to see if the iphone maker will follow in those companies footsteps the question of whether apple can follow the other big tech companies which have outperformed on their recent prints and raise the likelihood of a more favorable year for big tech over the rest of the market is tricky as while there exist many similarities in relation to broad drivers there are at the same time different fundamental drivers in play jpmorgan analyst samik chatterjee said in a wednesday note to clients some of those dissimilarities include stabilizing growth rates more evident for other big tech companies versus apples set up for revenue and earning declines he said apple shares are also trading toward the higher part of its recent range apples differences investors have flocked to apple given its large integral user base thats able to limit any potential downside chatterjee said investors have also come to view greater resources and heightened flexibility in larger companies as an advantage over some smaller names he added in relation to growth trends apple has tracked directionally very similar to the rest of big tech on average and investor sentiment is now turning positive with expectations building for a stabilization in growth trend or finding the bottom in relation to a lower growth level that big tech can rebound from in a cyclical recovery the analyst said however fundamental drivers for apple and its stock differ from most of its big tech rivals chatterjee noted of the major technology companies apple is the only one bracing for a revenue decline and one of only two preparing for earnings to fall while many companies including most notably meta platforms have focused attention on aggressively cutting costs  apples more finetuned cost management probably means fewer opportunities to heed similar cost disciplines in fy23 even if apple were to hold expenses flat at the lowend of the guide operating expenses will still be up highsingle digit percentages which will drive operating margin pullbacks in fy23 chatterjee said for years investors have closely monitored apples installed base which now sits at a record level after hitting two billion users last quarter chatterjee expects further gains in apples installed base to stem from noniphone devices to be sure apples valuation looks inexpensive when anticipating depressed earnings power fueled by a consumer recession however the company still trades within a tight range of its recent historical multiples compared to most other technology companies trading at a slight discount meanwhile apples stock outperformance since the covid19 pandemic looks materially higher than peers having more than doubled since january 2020 chatterjee added the eventual outcome might be simply driven by f3q c2q guidance where investors might be looking for assurance and visibility into limited downside despite a tough macro even if it comes down to assuring that revenue declines do not deteriorate further than the 5 moderation that investors are already expecting chatterjee wrote apple reports fiscal second quarter results thursday covering the calendar first quarter as apples fiscal year ends on sept 30 cnbcs michael bloom contributed reporting