Apple just had its biggest July-to-September stretch ever. The company brought in $114.5 billion in sales, up 12% from a year ago, Apple announced on Monday, November 2. It was the first earnings report for new CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook, so lots of people were watching to see how he would do.
iPhones led the way. Apple sold $57.6 billion worth of iPhones in the quarter, a record for that time of year, 9to5Mac reported. Ternus called the new iPhone Duo “the most transformational iPhone since the original.” Macs also did well, at about $10.8 billion, while Apple’s services, like the App Store, iCloud and Apple Music, hit an all-time high of $31.6 billion.
To see how big this is, Apple made a profit of about $30.7 billion in just three months, 9to5Mac said. For the whole year, Apple’s sales reached a record $479 billion, according to Apple. Wall Street experts had expected a bit less, about $113.4 billion in sales for the quarter, BeInCrypto reported.
So you would think the stock would jump. Instead, it slipped. Apple shares dropped after the company gave a weaker forecast for its profit margins, meaning how much it keeps from each dollar of sales, CNBC reported. One reason is memory chips, the parts that let phones and computers hold data. Giant AI data centers are buying up so many of them that prices have shot up. Back in the summer, Tim Cook called that price jump a “100-year flood,” ChannelNews reported, and Apple has already raised prices on some Macs and iPads.
That is the debate. Is Apple stronger than ever under its new leader, or are rising chip costs about to squeeze it and push prices up for the rest of us? A record quarter is nice, but investors care more about what comes next.
If you plan to buy a new iPhone or Mac soon, keep an eye on prices, because the chip crunch may not be over.
Sources:
Apple Newsroom: Apple reports fourth quarter results
9to5Mac: Apple reports Q4 2026 earnings
CNBC: Apple’s stock drops on weak margin forecast in Ternus’ first earnings report
BeInCrypto (via KuCoin): Apple beats earnings in Ternus’ first quarter, stock still falls
ChannelNews: Apple shares sink as memory crunch clouds record quarter
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