Key numbers of the quarter

According to Apple's announcement, this quarter Apple had revenue of 114.5 billion USD and net profit of 30.7 billion USD, equivalent to 2.10 USD per share. In the same period last year, revenue was 102.5 billion USD and profit was 27.5 billion USD. Gross profit margin reached 47.9%, inching up from 47.2%.

There is a small detail you should know when reading these numbers. According to chief financial officer Kevan Parekh, this quarter's profit margin was added by about 1 percentage point thanks to import tax refunds, while profit per share was added by 5 cents also from this amount. If you remove the tax refund, the profit margin drops by about 1 point compared to the previous quarter, mainly because of the increase in memory chip prices. Apple also said that it has received most of the tax refund, so the following quarters will no longer have this additional amount.

iPhones and Macs shoulder most of the increase

iPhone revenue this quarter was $57.6 billion, up 17.5% over the same period, according to Apple, a record for a September quarter despite limited supply. The service segment reached 31.6 billion USD, an increase of nearly 10% and the highest level ever.

Mac is the segment with the strongest increase, reaching 10.8 billion USD, an increase of nearly 24%. Parekh said this increase came mainly from the MacBook Neo and MacBook Pro. Ternus also said that Apple just signed the largest education contract ever for Mac, with the Philippine Department of Education, to distribute 170,000 MacBook Neos to teachers and staff.

Revenue from the touch-screen MacBook Pro and the new iMac M6 are not yet available this quarter, as the machines will only hit shelves this Friday. So next quarter, the Mac segment will have more motivation.

iPad and wearables group goes down

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Not all segments increased. iPad revenue reached $6.2 billion, down about 10%. Parekh explained that due to lack of stock and because the same period last year saw the launch of an iPad running the A16 chip, comparison is more difficult. The group of wearable devices, smart homes and accessories reached 8.3 billion USD, down nearly 8%, because last year this quarter had the new Apple Watch SE 3 and AirPods Pro 3 released.

By region, the Greater China region increased by 21%, the rest of Asia Pacific increased by 15%, Europe increased by 11.5%, and the Americas increased by 10.2%. Japan was the only market to decrease, about 1.4%.

Best fiscal year ever

For the entire fiscal year 2026, Apple has revenue of 478.8 billion USD and net profit of 132.2 billion USD. The old record was fiscal 2025 with $416.2 billion in revenue and $112 billion in profit. Total yearly revenue increased by 15%.

Apple currently has more than 2.5 billion active devices and more than 1.5 billion paid subscriptions. During the quarter, Apple returned $28 billion to shareholders, including $3.9 billion in dividends and $24 billion in stock repurchases. This quarter's dividend is still $0.27 per share.

iPhone Duo is out of stock, don't know when it will run out

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iPhone Duo was introduced in the quarter but orders were only opened on October 16, so the device's revenue is not included in this report. However, this is still the most asked question. Speaking to Reuters after the report, Ternus said Duo was running out of stock. Apple is increasing production and trying to deliver devices to customers as quickly as possible, but it is currently unknown when supply will meet demand.

According to MacRumors, the Duo order placed today has an expected delivery date of January, and at the store there are very few machines to reserve online. UBS bank data as of October 30 shows that the average Duo wait time is 89 days in more than 30 markets, although it has decreased by about a week. For comparison, the iPhone 18 Pro only has to wait about 5 days, while the 18 Pro Max only has to wait about 18 days.

Ternus also mentioned the internal screen error that some users encountered. He said only a very small percentage of devices are returned and Apple is replacing new devices for customers. UBS believes that the cracked screen is most likely not the main reason for the shorter waiting time.

In the US, Duo costs from $1,999 for the 256GB version and up to $3,199 for the 2TB version. Such a high price but still having to wait nearly three months shows that the demand for the first folding iPhone is quite large. I think Duo will be the thing that decides how good Apple's next quarter will be, because the more devices it ships, the more revenue it has.

What does Apple forecast next quarter

For the December quarter, Apple forecasts a revenue increase of 7 to 10% over the same period, and Parekh said this number takes into account limited supply. Apple believes that this will be the quarter with the highest revenue in the company's history. Services are forecast to grow 8 to 9%. Gross profit margin is expected to be only 45 to 46%, mainly because of increased memory chip prices and part of the cost for Siri AI.

Another detail from the Q&A session: Ternus said that features running on the server such as Siri AI or smart photo editing will have limited usage, anyone who needs to use more can buy more later. So the iCloud+ package may not just be about buying more storage.

In my opinion, Ternus's first quarter was quite smooth: good numbers, iPhone and Mac increased well, only profit margin is being forced down by memory chip prices. Next quarter will be the real test, when the Duo, touch MacBook Pro and a range of smart home devices all count towards revenue.