Apple results blow past forecasts, surprising investors worried iPhone maker had lost its touch
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Sales of the iPad and Mac lifted quarterly profit 9 per cent from a year earlier to US$23.43 billion (S$30.4 billion), surpassing the company’s record for the quarter.
PHOTO: AFP
Tripp Mickle
Follow topic:
SAN FRANCISCO – The tech industry has spent much of the past week boasting about how artificial intelligence is boosting sales. Then there’s Apple.
The iPhone maker, which has been slow to release AI products, reported on July 31 that revenue increased 9.6 per cent in the most recent quarter to US$94.04 billion (S$122 billion) behind sales of the iPad, Mac and App Store.
The familiar products lifted profit 9 per cent from a year earlier to US$23.43 billion, surpassing the company’s record for the quarter, which was set in 2021.
The results blew past expectations. Wall Street analysts had predicted quarterly sales of US$89.34 billion and profit of US$21.43 billion.
The company’s shares rose more than 3 per cent in after-hours trading.
Apple benefited from a rush by US customers to buy iPhones and Macs before tariffs increased prices. The purchases helped lift iPhone sales in the most recent quarter by more than 13 per cent to US$44.58 billion.
The company also reported double-digit sales growth for the Mac.
During a call with analysts, chief executive officer Tim Cook said 1 percentage point of its 10 per cent increase in quarterly sales could be attributed to people who bought products earlier than they normally would have.
The company said it expected to increase its revenue in the current quarter by 4 per cent to 9 per cent.
Long a stock market leader, Apple has become a laggard in 2025. Investors have been disappointed by its failure to release compelling AI products, troubled by its exposure to tariffs on smartphones made abroad, and concerned about how global antitrust actions could cut into its sales. Shares of the company have fallen 15 per cent in 2025 even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq index has increased 9.5 per cent.
Mr Cook said Apple was making “good progress on a more personalised Siri” and expected to release the product in 2026. He added that the company was significantly increasing its investment in AI and allocating more people to work on AI.
“We’re putting all of our energy behind it,” he said. “We have an exciting road map ahead.”
The product woes have been compounded by US President Donald Trump’s trade policies. Apple said US tariffs of 30 per cent on Chinese imports had added US$800 million in costs in the quarter.
The company expects the costs to increase to US$1.1 billion in the current quarter. NYTIMES
