Apple Q4 results beat Wall Street estimates on strong iPhone 18 Pro demand

Apple reported fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, beating estimates on strong iPhone 18 Pro sales, but warned that rising memory-chip costs could pressure margins

Apple on Monday reported results that beat Wall Street expectations, driven by early demand for its iPhone 18 Pro line-up and price increases that helped offset the impact of rising memory-chip costs.

 

Apple said fiscal fourth-quarter sales were $114.48 billion, above analysts' estimates of $113.39 billion, according to LSEG data. Profit for the fourth quarter was $2.10 per share, above analysts' estimates of $1.99 per share, even when excluding 5 cents per share from tariff refunds.

 

The results come as Apple experiments with a string of firsts under new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Ternus, who took over in September.

 

After nearly two decades of launching most of its new iPhones each autumn, Apple this year is spacing those out, with iPhone Pro and Duo models shipping this year and other iPhone models expected next year.

 

 

Apple said fourth-quarter iPhone sales, which included iPhone 18 Pro models but not Duo sales, were $57.58 billion, above analysts' estimates of $56.54 billion, according to LSEG data.

 

Apple shares fell about 4 per cent in premarket trading on Tuesday after the tech giant warned that rising memory costs would squeeze gross margins, stoking investor concerns over persistent supply-chain uncertainties and mounting artificial intelligence (AI) expenses.

 

John Ternus delivered his first earnings report as Apple CEO on Monday, describing the memory-pricing environment as “unprecedented” while expecting costs to rise beyond the quarter ending in December.

 

The iPhone maker has benefited from using memory purchased at lower prices, but that advantage is expected to diminish over time, leaving more of its purchases exposed to higher prices. Gross margin, which measures the percentage of revenue retained after the costs of making its products, was 47.9 per cent for the September quarter, down from June-quarter levels even when factoring in the impact of tariff refunds.

 

Apple expects gross margin for the December-ending quarter to range between 45 per cent and 46 per cent, which also reflects the expenses tied to the ramp-up of its AI-powered Siri. It forecast services revenue growth of 8 per cent to 9 per cent, below analysts' expectations of 10.7 per cent.