- Apple reported net sales of $114.48 billion and a profit of $2.10 per share, compared to net sales of $113.35 billion and a profit of $1.99 per share expected by Wall Street analysts, per Yahoo Finance
- Services reached an all-time high with $31.57 billion coming in for Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store and more
- The tech conglomerate welcomed new CEO John Ternus after taking over for Tim Cook on Sept. 1
Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that saw the tech giant reach an all-time high in services with $31.57 billion in revenue coming from Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store and more.
That’s up nearly 10% from a year ago, when the services division brought in $28.75 billion. The company also revealed it has over 1.5 billion paid subscriptions, up double digits since a year ago.
“I’m delighted with where our services business is today and where it’s going,” CEO John Ternus said on Monday’s earnings call, his first time helming it since taking over as CEO in September. “And with an installed base of more than 2.5 billion active devices, I’m looking forward to expanding our offerings and improving the lives of users around the world.”
Apple posted fourth quarter revenue of $114.48 billion and per-share earnings of $2.10, exceeding the revenue of $113.35 billion and profit of $1.99 per share that Wall Street analysts had forecasted, according to Yahoo Finance.
Revenue was up 11.72% from a year ago and earnings were up 13.51% from a year ago. Net income came in at $30.71 billion, rising from the previous year’s income of $27.47 billion.
Despite the strong quarter results, Apple faced questions during the earnings call about how its growth will fare in the December quarter due to pricing, component concerns and a slowing services growth, with shares down 3.2% in after-hours trading.
“I’m feeling great about the opportunities ahead for Apple, from our product roadmap and broad range of services to promising areas like health, emerging markets, enterprise and education,” Ternus said.
Services soar
During Monday’s earnings call, Ternus flaunted Apple TV’s Emmys dominance, with the company’s 78 primetime Emmy wins in September boosting the streamer to earn more awards than any other network.
“‘Widows Bay,’ the show of the summer, became the most awarded comedy ever in a single year,” Ternus said. “We’re very excited about our program[ming], from fan favorites like ‘Slow Horses’ and ‘Ted Lasso’ to the upcoming film ‘Being Heumann.’ To date, Apple … [has] earned more than 900 wins and over 2,800 nomination.”
Beyond Apple TV, video, cloud services, payment services and advertising saw all-time highs and Apple music saw a September quarter record.
“Fundamentally, we feel really good about the long-term opportunity that we have in our services,” Ternus said. “We see continued growth in the install base of over 2.5 billion active devices, which is fundamentally the foundation for future growth, as more customers are able to experience our products and services.”
iPhone sales drives gains
The biggest driver for the revenue growth was iPhone sales, which also hit a September quarter revenue record with $57.58 billion, rising from the $49.03 the category brought in a year ago.
The quarter only included a few weeks worth of sales from the new iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the quarter ended before the iPhone Duo launched on Oct. 23. Ternus called the iPhone Duo “the most transformational iPhone since the original.”
“We’ve been thrilled with the early response from reviewers and customers, and we are working hard to get iPhone Duo into customers’ hands,” Ternus said. “We have also been thrilled with the response of iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. It’s easy to see why customers are embracing them; our latest models feature a dramatically improved camera system with breakthrough upgrades like variable aperture and all-new photographic styles.”
Apple intensifies AI efforts
Ternus noted that Siri AI “marks a new chapter in AI,” explaining that the digital assistant has been “completely reimagined” to become “powerful, personal and deeply relevant to our users’ lives.”
“Siri AI picks up what’s relevant to our users, understands what’s on their screen, and holds a natural conversation, all to help them with the things they do every day,” he said. “It’s the Siri we always wanted. We are very pleased with the reviews and feedback we’ve received, and we’re so excited that more and more users are getting to experience it … and through the years it has opened the world of possibility.”
Unlike the other Big Tech companies, Apple hasn’t invested huge amounts of money into building their own AI models or infrastructure to support AI services. The company is hoping its existing relationship, as well as the promise of the protection of personal data and other privacy protections, will keep its users loyal both to its family devices and its services.
But with more users gravitating towards AI tools provided by the likes of Google, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, all readily available via apps in iOS, Apple faces stiff competition on its own devices.
