Apple’s first quarterly results under CEO John Ternus showed revenue growth slowing to 11.7%, even as sales and profit topped expectations and the company left the effect of memory costs unquantified.
Apple announced the fiscal fourth-quarter results Nov. 2 for the three months ended Sept. 26. Revenue totaled $114.477 billion, up from $102.466 billion a year earlier; the increase followed 16% growth in the June quarter. Net income rose to $30.711 billion from $27.466 billion, and diluted earnings per share climbed 14% to $2.10.
Reuters, citing LSEG data, reported analysts had expected $113.39 billion in revenue and $29.04 billion in net profit. Apple’s revenue and net income exceeded those forecasts. Ternus became CEO on Sept. 1 under a transition Apple announced in April, making this the first quarterly report under his leadership.
iPhone net sales rose 17.5% to $57.583 billion, while Services net sales advanced 9.8% to $31.573 billion. Greater China sales climbed 21% to $17.539 billion from $14.493 billion a year earlier, outpacing the company’s total sales growth.
Apple reported a gross margin of 47.9% and said tariff refunds contributed about 1 percentage point. The release did not state how much memory costs affected that margin. In its previous Form 10-Q, Apple described supply-demand imbalances that constrained supplies and raised costs for DRAM and NAND storage. The company warned the pressure could intensify, and that price increases might not cover added expenses and could reduce demand.
On the July earnings call, Apple’s then-CEO Tim Cook said the company expected to pay “even higher memory costs” in September. He also said rising market prices could increasingly affect Apple’s business.
Apple began iPhone Duo availability Oct. 23, weeks after the Sept. 26 reporting cutoff; its first sales are part of the next quarter.
