The stock rises in after-trade on Wall Street.
Apple presented results for previous quarterprevious quarterFor Apple, October-December 2025 was the first quarter of the financial year 2026. Thursday evening. The technology giant delivers better numbers than expected, including when it comes to iPhone sales.
The company had revenue of $143.8 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of $138.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus.
Earnings per share ended at $2.84, against the expected $2.68.
– Today we are proud to be able to report a remarkable, record-breaking quarter, with revenue of 143.8 billion dollars, up 16 percent from the previous year, and well above our expectations, says Apple CEO Tim Cook in the press release.
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Apple’s gross margin ended at 48 percent, while operating margins were around 34.5 percent. The analysts had previously expected margins of 47.5 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.
iPhone still most important
The iPhone accounts for the bulk of Apple’s revenue. Sales from the phones accounted for close to 60 per cent of the company’s total turnover.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company is experiencing “unprecedented” iPhone demand and that they are seeing strong interest across markets.
iPhone revenue was $85.27 billion in the quarter. By comparison, the consensus was at $78 billion. That corresponds to growth of around 23 percent, and marks one of Apple’s strongest iPhone quarters.
Lie points out that the fourth quarter is particularly important for Apple, as it reflects Christmas sales.
– It is expected that both the sale of the iPhone 17 and the service income will make a positive contribution. At the same time, tension is linked to developments in China and how the company communicates around the AI initiative, he says.
Apple delivered strong growth in China, where revenue rose to $25.5 billion, from $18.5 billion the previous year. Corresponding 38 per cent growth from the previous year. The Chinese market accounted for 18 percent of the company’s total turnover in this quarter.
Jump for the stock
Apple shares rose in after-market trading after the release of the figures. At 23.40 it is up around 1.2 per cent.
– A very strong quarter is expected from Apple, and the threshold for a positive surprise is therefore relatively high, said Christian Lie, chief strategist at Formue, ahead of the release of the figures.
The Apple share had a weak period before Christmas and into January, but the share has recovered a little in recent days. Since December 2, the stock has fallen around 10 percent before the release of the numbers, which makes it one of the worst performers among the major technology companies.
The fall is partly due to fears that sharply increased costs for memory chips will pressure Apple’s margins and earnings. Memory chips make up between 10 and 20 percent of the cost of building a smartphone.
Since the end of September, the prices of DRAM memory chips have risen almost 400 percent, according to Bloomberg.
