CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple posted fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that exceeded Wall Street projections on Monday, carried by resilient iPhone purchases in the company’s first financial report under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus.
Total revenue rose 12 percent from the previous year to $114.48 billion, topping analyst projections of roughly $113.4 billion, according to financial data tracked by LSEG and reported by the New York Post and Business Insider. Diluted earnings came in at $2.10 per share, surpassing consensus estimates of $2 per share.
The performance offered an early victory for Ternus, who stepped into the chief executive role on Sept. 1 following the departure of longtime leader Tim Cook. Yet beneath the headline gains, the tech company wrestled with mounting supply expenses, missed targets in China and the iPad line, and persistent component shortages stemming from the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
iPhone strength and product headwinds
Handset revenue hit $57.58 billion, climbing 17 percent and beating expectations of roughly $56.5 billion. The results were aided by eight days of sales from the new iPhone 18 Pro alongside an earlier $100 price increase Apple implemented across the lineup to offset rising component expenses. Mac computers also saw robust demand, generating $10.79 billion to beat expectations by more than $1 billion.
Other divisions did not fare as well. Tablet sales fell 10 percent from a year earlier to $6.23 billion, trailing Wall Street projections near $6.8 billion as executives cited supply limitations. Revenue from services, which houses Apple TV and subscription offerings, reached $31.57 billion, roughly matching forecasts.
Geographic performance also revealed fractures. While some analysts highlighted resilient overseas upgrades, revenue from Greater China landed at $17.54 billion, falling short of Wall Street estimates of $18.75 billion, Business Insider reported. Investing.com senior analyst Jesse Cohen cautioned that missing China forecasts by more than $1 billion signaled troubling softness outside the core phone business.
Surging chip costs pinch margins
Ternus warned investors that elevated hardware component prices, particularly for memory chips, will increasingly pressure profitability. Memory costs have surged across the tech sector as semiconductor manufacturers redirect production toward servers powering artificial intelligence models.
“What we’re seeing with memory pricing right now is unprecedented,” Ternus told analysts during the earnings call.
Apple recorded a gross margin of 47.9 percent for the quarter, but Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said that number was lifted by tariff refunds. Without those refunds, gross margin would have declined by about one percentage point sequentially due to costlier memory parts.
To shield its operations against future shortages, Apple stockpiled components rapidly. Regulatory disclosures showed company inventory climbed 31.1 percent from the previous quarter to $14.54 billion, representing a 154 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, TechCrunch reported. Manufacturing purchase obligations also jumped by $33 billion from June to September.
The road ahead for the holiday quarter
Apple executives projected that gross margins will pull back to between 45 percent and 46 percent during the upcoming December period as memory expenses rise further. Operating expenses are forecast between $20.4 billion and $20.8 billion, slightly above analyst targets.
Investors are also awaiting the first financial read on Apple’s premium folding smartphone, the iPhone Duo, which carries a price near $2,000. Because it arrived in stores in late October, sales from the device were excluded from fourth-quarter numbers. While customer lines formed outside retail locations, early purchasers reported cracked displays near the hinge, prompting Apple to offer device replacements. Ternus told investors that supply constraints make it difficult to forecast when production will satisfy consumer demand for the folding model.
Apple shares traded virtually unchanged in after-hours trading following the announcement, leaving the stock hovering near a historic $5 trillion market valuation.
