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Apple posts stronger-than-expected revenue in first earnings report for new CEO John Ternus

By · Via The Guardian Business · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The Cupertino tech giant successfully navigated a widespread industry downturn driven by anxieties surrounding aggressive artificial intelligence expenditures. Strong demand in China and record device sales helped bolster the company's financial footing during this executive transition. Net income for the period rose to $30.71 billion, or $2.10 per share, which was partially lifted by five cents a share from tariff refunds. Furthermore, potential collaborations with rivals like Alphabet could enable the business to expand its technological capabilities without taking on massive balance-sheet risks.

Key points

  • Apple maintained profitability by combining record iPhone sales with substantial market g…: Apple maintained profitability by combining record iPhone sales with substantial market growth across China.
  • The company diverged from peers like Alphabet and Amazon by limiting costly artificial in…: The company diverged from peers like Alphabet and Amazon by limiting costly artificial intelligence infrastructure investments.
  • Strategic external partnerships offer a pathway to advance machine learning features whil…: Strategic external partnerships offer a pathway to advance machine learning features while avoiding significant capital risks.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Apple Inc posted stronger-than-expected revenue in the fiscal third quarter, giving John Ternus, the new CEO, an upbeat start to his tenure, which began in September. The solid results bucked a downward trend for tech giants this quarter, as companies including Alphabet, Amazon and Intel had disappointing quarterly results.

“Apple’s strong earnings come in the wake of a recent tech sell-off, as investors question the enormous cost and uncertain returns of the AI boom driven by Apple’s big tech counterparts,” said Jacob Bourne, an Emarketer analyst, adding that record iPhone revenue and strong growth in China demonstrate the resilience of Apple’s business.

The Cupertino, California-based company earned $30.71bn, or $2.10 a share, in the July-September period. That’s up 12% from $27.47bn, or $1.85 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Apple said its earnings included five cents a share from tariff refunds.

Revenue rose 12% to $114.5bn from $102.5bn.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.99 a share on revenue of $113.4bn, according to a poll by FactSet.

While its rivals are facing investor uncertainty over huge…

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