Apple reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter on Monday, and it was the company’s biggest September quarter ever, as well as the first under new CEO John Ternus.
Revenue came in at $114.5 billion US, up 12 per cent from the same quarter last year, with earnings of $2.10 per share, a 14 per cent jump.
The iPhone did most of the heavy lifting. Sales hit $57.6 billion, up 17 per cent year over year, a new September quarter record even though the iPhone Duo did not go on sale until after the quarter closed. Mac had a strong run too at $10.8 billion, up 24 per cent, with momentum heading into Apple’s new MacBook Pro with OLED and touch, which launched after the quarter closed. Services set another all-time high at $31.6 billion, up 10 per cent.
A couple of categories went the other way. iPad slipped to $6.2 billion from $7.0 billion a year ago, a 10 per cent decline, and Wearables, Home and Accessories fell eight per cent to $8.3 billion.
Most regions still moved higher. Greater China led the way at $17.5 billion, up 21 per cent. Europe rose 12 per cent to $32.0 billion, the Americas 10 per cent to $48.7 billion, and the rest of Asia Pacific 15 per cent to $9.7 billion. Japan was the soft spot at $6.5 billion, down about one per cent.
Gross margin landed at 47.9 per cent, with about one percentage point of that coming from tariff refunds. Those refunds also added five cents to earnings per share, so the 14 per cent EPS growth is flattered a little.
“Today, Apple is proud to report a September quarter revenue record of $114.5 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago, with iPhone reaching a September quarter record and Services reaching an all-time high, capping off our best fiscal year ever,” said John Ternus, Apple’s CEO. “We’re closing the year with our most ambitious lineup yet. That includes the iPhone Duo, the most transformational iPhone since the original, alongside iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, our most powerful iPhones yet. We also just introduced a whole new generation of hardware for the home and brought Touch to Mac for the first time. Together with the all-new Siri AI, it’s an incredible lineup to carry us into the holiday season.”
“Apple delivered September quarter records for net income and EPS. Our record September quarter capped off a strong fiscal 2026, with all-time record revenue of $479 billion and double-digit EPS growth,” said Kevan Parekh, Apple’s CFO. “We generated $28 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter, allowing us to return $28 billion to shareholders. Thanks to our very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, our installed base of active devices reached a new all-time high across all major product categories and geographic segments.”
Research and development spending rose to $11.7 billion for the quarter, up 32 per cent from a year ago. Inventories jumped to $14.5 billion from $5.7 billion a year earlier, another sign of the memory and storage crunch that has already pushed device prices higher.
Apple’s board declared a dividend of $0.27 per share, payable November 16 to shareholders of record as of November 12.
Full details are in Apple’s fourth quarter results. This was also Ternus’ first earnings report as CEO after taking over from Tim Cook on September 1, following Cook’s last report in July.
What do you want to hear from Ternus on the call: holiday guidance, China, or how the Duo is tracking?
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