Apple posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street expectations, with revenue coming in at $102.47 billion, up 8% from a year ago.
The quarter saw significant growth in the services the business, which includes Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud, its App Store and more. The services cumulatively brought in $28.75 billion this quarter, up 15% from last year. iPhone sales, which still make up the largest bulk of Apple’s revenues, came in at $49.03 billion this quarter, marking a 6% uptick from a year ago.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking to investors on the call, teased that the fourth quarter would see the highest revenue both in total and with the iPhone. The company released the latest version of its iPhone family last month, but only saw a little more than a week’s worth of sales. It typically sees the full benefit of pent-up iPhone demand in its fiscal first quarter.
While Apple still relies on the iPhone for the lion’s share of revenue, the company has spent the last few years focused on driving the services that run on top of that device, along with its iPad, Macs and Apple Watch. That includes its Apple TV service, which has generated buzz through its critically acclaimed programs like “The Studio,” which won 13 Emmy awards — breaking the record as the comedy series with the most Emmy wins in a single season, pushing ahead of “The Bear” — and “Severance,” which won 8 awards.
Mac sales came in at $8.73 billion — up 13% from a year ago — while iPad sales remained relatively stagnant at $6.95 billion. In the category of wearables, home and accessories, which include Apple Watches that Cook noted would soon include notable health features as well as AirPods, sales totaled to $9.01 billion, down a slight 0.3% from last year.
Apple continued to double down on its commitment to AI as the company introduced “dozens” of new features within Apple products, with Cook pointing to live translation, visual intelligence and workout buddy, which is described as “a new experience that uses AI to provide personalized motivational insights based on a user’s workout data and fitness history.”
“As we continue to expand our investment in AI, we’re bringing intelligence to more of what people already love about our products and services, making every experience even more personal, capable and effortless,” Cook said.
The investment into AI, however, has led to some increased operating expenses within the research and development segments, which rose 14% from a year ago. “While we continue to manage the company in a thoughtful, disciplined way, we’re also managing the business for the long term, and are super excited about all the opportunities that we see ahead,” CFO Kevan Parekh said on the earnings call.
Despite this pickup in investment in AI, Apple has widely been seen as behind Big Tech rivals such as Meta and Google, which are pouring billions of dollars into both AI research and infrastructure to support its growth.
Net income: $27.47 billion, compared to $14.74 billion a year ago.
Earnings Per Share: $1.85, compared to $0.97 a year ago and $1.77 expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance. Excluding a one-time tax charge, the year earlier figure would have been $1.64 per share.
Revenue: $102.47 billion, compared to $102.25 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance.
iPhone Sales: $49.03 billion, compared with $46.22 billion a year ago.
Services: $28.75 billion, compared with $24.97 billion a year ago.
Apple benefitted from the summer theatrical release of the Brad Pitt and Damson Idris-led “F1,” which gave the company one of its first box office hits as it tallied up $55.6 million domestically and $144 million globally in its opening weekend. The movie, which was headed up by “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski, went on to make $629 million worldwide, becoming the year’s highest grossing original film and the biggest opening for an original live action film domestically in the last five years.
The success of “F1” paved the way for the company’s licensing deal with the league inked in October, which will give Apple the exclusive U.S. rights to F1’s series of races beginning in 2026 for five years.
Also notably during the quarter, Apple’s streaming arm rebranded, dropping the “+” within its title to be known as Apple TV.
