Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted its earnings results on Monday. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.40 billion.

Here are the key takeaways from Apple’s conference call:

• Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12% year over year, with fiscal-year records for revenue and EPS. It returned $28 billion to shareholders during the quarter through dividends and share repurchases.
• iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.6 billion and Mac revenue increased 24% to $10.8 billion, with records for upgraders and new-to-Mac customers. Early demand for the foldable iPhone Duo was strong, although the product remains supply constrained.
• Services revenue reached a record $31.6 billion, supported by all-time highs in cloud, video, payments, advertising, and paid subscriptions. However, Apple expects services growth to slow to 8%–9% in the December quarter amid foreign-exchange, licensing, mobile-gaming, and App Store-related headwinds.
• Gross margin benefited by roughly one percentage point from tariff refunds in the September quarter, while higher memory costs caused an underlying sequential decline. Apple expects December-quarter gross margin of 45%–46%, with memory inflation and the rollout of Siri AI adding pressure.
• Apple expects December-quarter revenue to grow 7%–10% year over year to what it projects will be the company’s best quarter ever, but supply constraints remain for Mac and iPad. The company is also continuing to increase R&D spending, particularly on AI, while manufacturing purchase obligations rose by $33 billion sequentially to improve supply.

Apple Trading Down 1.8%

AAPL traded down $6.31 on Monday, hitting $338.32. The company had a trading volume of 62,180,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,372,020. The company has a market cap of $4.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $333.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.77. Apple has a 12-month low of $243.42 and a 12-month high of $351.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Citic Securities increased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $349.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $370.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. DZ Bank lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total transaction of $806,495.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,992 shares in the company, valued at $14,116,870.56. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, up 12% year over year and above the approximately $113.4 billion consensus estimate. Diluted EPS of $2.10 also exceeded expectations near $1.99. Apple results beat Wall Street expectations on strong iPhone sales
• Positive Sentiment: Growth was led by early demand for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, with iPhone revenue reaching $57.6 billion, up 17%, while Mac sales and Services also set records. Apple’s active installed base reached an all-time high, supporting its ecosystem and recurring-revenue outlook. Apple Q4 earnings call: Ternus breaks down excellent quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Relatively light quarterly capital spending of $2.24 billion, below the expected $3.33 billion, reinforces Apple’s cash-generation and capital-discipline story as other technology companies spend heavily on AI infrastructure. Big quarterly beats after the close
• Neutral Sentiment: The report was the first under CEO John Ternus. His defense of Apple’s measured AI strategy may appeal to investors seeking profitable, product-focused AI development, but it leaves the company with less visible AI investment than major rivals.
• Negative Sentiment: China revenue fell short of projections, while iPad and Wearables, Home and Accessories sales missed estimates. These weaknesses offset the iPhone and Mac strength and raised concerns about regional and product-line momentum. New CEO John Ternus delivers an Apple earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Memory-chip inflation and component shortages threaten future gross margins. Apple’s inventory rose from $11.09 billion to $14.54 billion during the quarter, suggesting the company is stockpiling components but also tying up more cash. Apple inventory surges as memory chip costs climb
• Negative Sentiment: EPS benefited from a roughly $0.05-per-share tariff refund, and gross margin received an approximately one-percentage-point boost. Investors may therefore view part of the earnings beat as one-time rather than purely operational. Apple reports fourth quarter results

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.