Apple forecast 7-10% holiday quarter sales growth, beating Wall Street's 6% estimate, but shares fell ~3% after-hours as the company warned gross margins would slip to 45-46%, below the 47% consensus. CEO John Ternus blamed an "unprecedented" memory chip shortage driven by data centre demand, while CFO Kevan Parekh cited supply-chain constraints limiting China deliveries — China revenue came in at $17.5bn versus $18.9bn expected. Total Q3 revenue reached $114.5bn, with Mac sales of $10.8bn (~$1bn above forecasts) and Services at $31.6bn.
Net income was $30.7bn. The results mark Ternus's first earnings as CEO since succeeding Tim Cook in September and the first full quarter reflecting June price hikes across the iPhone lineup. Apple's shares have held near a $5tn market cap, outperforming Big Tech peers, though the foldable iPhone Duo launch has faced screen-crack reports and delays.
Global smartphone shipments fell 20% in Q3 per Counterpoint Research, yet Apple grew share from 18% to 22%.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing