Apple reports mixed fourth-quarter performance

Apple reported mixed fourth-quarter performance. Revenue and earnings per share beat what Wall Street expected, but net income took a hit from one-time $10.2 billion EU tax charge.

The technology giant based in California reported a 6% increase in fourth-quarter revenue compared to the previous year, totaling $94.93 billion.

Apple’s earnings per share rose to $1.64, a 12% increase from last year, when accounting for the large one-time cost of a tax payment required by the EU ruling.

The company’s iPhone remains to be its primary generator of revenue. Sales of iPhones brought Apple revenue of $46.22 billion in the fourth quarter, up 5.5% compared to the previous year.

Apple’s Mac and iPad saw moderate growth, with growth in those two products reaching $7.74 billion and $6.95 billion, respectively.

The company’s services division reported a record revenue of $24.97 billion, which is up 12% from last year, but it fell short of analysts’ estimate of $25.3 billion.

Apple’s fourth-quarter performance comes as other tech rivals have reported impressive. Alphabet’s recent 15% revenue growth and a 34% surge in net income, as well as Microsoft’s robust Q1 performance driven by AI and cloud innovation underscore the growing demand for cloud and AI services.

“Today Apple is reporting a new September quarter revenue record of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago,”: said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

“During the quarter, we were excited to announce our best products yet, with the all-new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and remarkable features for hearing health and sleep apnea detection. And this week, we released our first set of features for Apple Intelligence, which sets a new standard for privacy in AI and supercharges our lineup heading into the holiday season.”

“Our record business performance during the September quarter drove nearly $27 billion in operating cash flow, allowing us to return over $29 billion to our shareholders,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.

Adding: “We are very pleased that our active installed base of devices reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, thanks to our high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.”