Calculating the average shareholder's equity

[Dreyar89]

Average shareholders' equity is calculated by adding the beginning and ending equity and dividing by two, which is then used in the ROE formula. Using Apple's 2025 financial data as an example:
Net income was $112,500 million, beginning equity (2024) was $54,000 million, and ending equity (2025) was $47,800 million, this then results in a calculated ROE of about 224%. However, Apple's reported ROE for 2025 is 189.3%, raising questions about the discrepancy between the manual calculation and the official figure. Thoughts? Or am I missing anything obvvious??

 

[thefinalbalance22]

Your calculation of a 224% return on equity seems accurate when using the average equity method. The 189.3% difference probably comes from Apple making different equity adjustments, timing their share repurchases differently, or using other calculation methods that aren't shown in the basic figures