Apple beats Wall Street expectations as iPhone sales hit a September-quarter record
Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion and earnings of $2.10 a share, beating analyst expectations on strong iPhone and Mac sales.
Apple reported results on Monday, 2 November, that beat Wall Street expectations, driven by early demand for its new iPhone lineup and price increases that helped offset rising memory-chip costs.
Figures checked on Tuesday morning, 3 November 2026 (Pakistan time). Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, for the July to September period, was $114.48 billion, above analyst estimates of $113.39 billion compiled by LSEG, while earnings were $2.10 a share, above the $1.99 expected.
Net income was $30.71 billion, up from $27.47 billion in the same period a year earlier, and revenue rose about 12 per cent year on year, making it Apple's strongest September quarter on record.
The iPhone led the results, with revenue of $57.58 billion, above estimates of $56.54 billion and up from $49.03 billion a year earlier, also a record for a September quarter.
That iPhone figure included only the final days of sales of the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models, while Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, which went on sale on 23 October, was not on sale during the quarter and so was not included at all.
Mac revenue rose 23.7 per cent from a year earlier to about $10.8 billion, roughly $1 billion above market expectations, while services revenue, covering the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud and Apple TV and Music, reached an all-time high of $31.57 billion, up 9.8 per cent and broadly in line with forecasts.
Greater China was the weak spot, with revenue of $17.54 billion, up about a fifth from a year earlier but below analyst expectations of around $18.6 billion, while iPad and wearables revenue also came in below forecasts.
Gross margin was 47.9 per cent, above estimates of 47.5 per cent, but the result included about one percentage point from tariff refunds, and earnings included five cents a share from those refunds, without which the underlying margin would have been lower.
The results are the first reported under new chief executive John Ternus, who took over in September, and Apple said price increases on iPhones, Macs and iPads had helped counter higher component costs, with the iPhone 18 costing about $100 more than earlier generations amid a global memory shortage driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
Apple shares fell in volatile after-hours trading after the release, as investors weighed the strong quarter against cautious guidance for the holiday quarter, with reports of the earnings call putting December-quarter gross margin guidance at 45 to 46 per cent and services growth at 8 to 9 per cent, below the roughly 10.7 per cent expected, and with the company warning that the iPhone Duo remains supply-constrained with no estimate yet for when supply and demand will balance.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
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