Apple has explicitly prohibited employees from using confidential information to bet on prediction markets. The amendment is part of an updated insider trading policy that the company published in its annual Form 10-K report for fiscal year 2026. Apple submitted it to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a day after announcing its results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026. The change was reported by casino.org, financemagnates.com and appleinsider.com.
The insider trading policy is included in this report as Exhibit 19.1. Under the existing rules, employees were not allowed to trade if they had information that was not public and could affect the share price. Passing on such information, trading through third parties, trading during blackout periods, short selling, hedging positions and trading in derivatives were also prohibited.
Prediction markets: a new point in Apple's policy
A ban on trading on prediction markets based on confidential information has now been added. Employees may not bet, trade or buy and sell contracts on the outcome of future events on such platforms if they use Apple's confidential information to do so. According to the company's code of conduct, this information concerns the company itself as well as other companies, such as suppliers, manufacturers, sellers or customers, such as mobile operators.
The ban also covers the sharing of information. Anyone who provided confidential data to other people who would bet on prediction markets would violate the policy in the same way. The company explicitly states that the rule applies regardless of whether the given conduct would be considered insider trading under applicable laws.
The gray zone around betting on results
According to the servers that reported on the change, it had until now been unclear how the rules on trading with non-public information apply to prediction markets. Large prediction platforms prohibit such betting in their terms and conditions, but enforcement remains difficult. Apple is thus now extending the restrictions beyond classic securities trading.
The full text of the Form 10-K report is available on Apple's investor relations website.