Key takeaways
- Apple reported record September-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12%, with iPhone revenue up 17% to $57.6 billion and a record fiscal year of $479 billion. The stock still fell about 2.5% after hours, as Apple guided gross margin down to 45-46% because of memory costs.
- On John Ternus’s first call as CEO, Apple said memory prices are “unprecedented” and will keep rising, its COO did not rule out more price increases, and server-side Siri AI features will get usage limits with paid expanded access. The iPhone Duo is supply-constrained with no end date.
- My view: this record is a price tag, not a sales record. Apple hasn’t reported unit sales since 2018, so it shows only revenue. Siri with limits and a fee is nonsense, and it was a neutral night that left more questions than answers.
On November 2, Apple reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter, June 28 to September 26, 2026, the first with John Ternus as CEO. Revenue was $114.48 billion, up 12% and above the $113.46 billion analysts expected, and earnings per share were $2.10 versus $2.00 expected. iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.58 billion, a September-quarter record, after Apple raised iPhone 18 Pro prices by $100; the iPhone Duo is not in these numbers, since its pre-orders began October 16. Mac brought $10.79 billion, iPad fell to $6.23 billion from $7 billion, Wearables, Home and Accessories fell 8% to $8.3 billion, and Services hit a record $31.57 billion, just under estimates. Greater China grew 21% to $17.54 billion, but missed the $18.75 billion analysts expected. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached a record $479 billion, and Apple spent $24 billion on buybacks and $3.9 billion on dividends in the quarter.
The stock fell about 2.5% after hours. Apple guided December-quarter gross margin to 45-46%, down from 47.9%, which included about one point from tariff refunds, because of memory costs. Ternus called memory pricing “unprecedented,” Apple expects it to keep rising beyond December, and COO Sabih Khan did not rule out further price increases. Apple guided December-quarter revenue growth of 7-10%, which would be its best quarter ever. Apple also said server-side AI features like Siri AI will get usage limits, with expanded access available to buy, without giving prices.
In this article: A record built on price increases · More price increases are coming · The pink glasses of Apple fans · Siri with limits and a fee · “Even Apple doesn’t have access” · Behind on AI, and no straight answer · “The most transformational iPhone” · A waiting list keeps the Duo in the news · Ternus passes the questions · China won’t save Apple. A change of course will · $24 billion for shareholders, higher prices for us · A neutral night · FAQ
A record built on price increases
These records are only because of price increases, and absolutely everyone understands that. The customer simply pays more for almost every gadget from Apple. So this is not a record in units sold. No.
Apple hasn’t reported how many iPhones it sells since 2018, exactly so it can show only nice revenue numbers. iPhone +17% in revenue only proves that Apple showed us pretty numbers. Counterpoint said iPhone 18 Pro sales rose only 3.1% globally in the first weeks, fell 4% in the US and 27% in Japan. My suspicion is that Apple didn’t want to say how few more units it sold, so it says: even if it’s not more, we are still up, because we raised prices enough.
| Fiscal Q4 2026 | Actual | Expected | Year ago / change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $114.48B | $113.46B | +12% |
| EPS | $2.10 | $2.00 | $1.85 |
| iPhone | $57.58B | $56.48B | +17% |
| Mac | $10.79B | $9.69B | Up from $8.7B |
| iPad | $6.23B | n/a | Down from $7B |
| Wearables, Home and Accessories | $8.30B | n/a | -8% |
| Services | $31.57B | $31.58B | Record |
| Greater China | $17.54B | $18.75B | +21% |
| Gross margin | 47.9% | n/a | Next quarter: 45-46% |
More price increases are coming
What is very bad: it was confirmed that Apple can keep raising prices. Memory prices are “unprecedented,” they will keep rising after December, and the COO didn’t rule out more increases. I wrote about how the memory boomerang hit Apple, and the bill lands on us.
And even with more expensive memory, Apple keeps 45-46% of every dollar for itself, and the rest is covered by the customer through higher prices. I’m curious how big a margin Apple will set for itself next.
The pink glasses of Apple fans
What fascinates me the most, as I say every time, is that Apple fans wear such thick pink glasses that they don’t think rationally. They support people who just want to get rich at any price.
It shows how big a cult Apple built around itself with its gadgets. People are able to believe it and defend every senseless price increase that grows the margin in Apple’s favor. Now only time will show how many of these fans take the glasses off when the price increases continue. I can’t wait to see that.
Siri with limits and a fee
And here, for the first time, Apple confirmed in front of investors what we should have known long ago, when it started promoting Siri AI everywhere, in every gadget. Server-side Siri AI features will have limits, and you will pay for more. Honestly, in my opinion, that is a fabulous piece of nonsense.
Siri doesn’t have its own AI brain. It is borrowed from Google, one of the leaders of the market. But Apple is so greedy that it builds a cult around this too. It’s not enough for them to make probably the biggest share from subscriptions in all kinds of apps. No, they want to grab money from this as well. It’s laughable.
They probably forgot that Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Google are here, and when you pay them, you know you have a real assistant for work. And what does Apple do? It found out that people like to pay for AI. Except its AI is so slow and weak, even though it runs on top AI infrastructure, that it’s a shame. And for that, they want money. It’s truly embarrassing. I’m sure they will wrap it so nicely that people just keep paying.
“Even Apple doesn’t have access”
Apple says Siri AI runs on its own Private Cloud Compute servers, and Ternus told investors that Siri can see personal data “even Apple doesn’t have access to.” I don’t believe it.
When Siri’s brain is borrowed from Google’s Gemini, I don’t believe that this brain processes our questions and knows nothing. We are talking about Google, which already knows almost everything about us. To me, it’s just a pretty sentence so we don’t get scared that Apple is losing the one thing we loved most about it: security.
Behind on AI, and no straight answer
They could have just said: when we should have invested in AI, we didn’t. Now it will be very hard for them to reach the top, even if they started today. That train has probably gone too far ahead.
And when an analyst asks whether they are behind with Siri, they just answer with empty phrases, that Siri is “primarily request-based today.” They don’t even want to answer normally.
“The most transformational iPhone”
And on the Duo they again said something fabulous, that it’s “the most transformational iPhone since the original.” We know that without you making a constant “wow” out of it. But the most important thing is that you were not ready for production. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple originally wanted to launch the Duo in November, only in the US and China, and instead rushed it into more than 70 countries without enough stock.
Why? Surely there is some logic, probably financial, so next time you can show investors how skilled you are. That way you can hide how many units were sold and how many are defective. You don’t even know yourselves, when you answer that only “a very small percentage” were returned.
A waiting list keeps the Duo in the news
Stretching the first wave into a waiting list until late January was smart. The Duo will stay in the conversation, and demand won’t drop. Only time will show, but you did it so well that nobody asks why. If you had given everyone their iPhones right away, we might learn that the first wave sold and nobody wants it anymore, and nobody talks about it.
My view is that they learned this from the Vision Pro, and we see the same with the HomeView. Apple knows it must never happen that people stop talking about a product, in any form. It fascinates me how artificially Apple can create demand for things it didn’t want to release for years, and now, so it doesn’t get dirty, it stretches everything out.
Ternus passes the questions
And when Ternus doesn’t know what to say and doesn’t want to embarrass himself, he immediately passes the question to his colleagues. It just shows that he probably doesn’t fit that post.
China won’t save Apple. A change of course will
About China, we still don’t know how many units were sold. We only know it’s +21%, and still below expectations. Someone thinks China will be the rescue. Maybe it will. But with this approach, the real rescue would be for Apple to change course and go back to what worked, go further into AI and stop falling behind, and say: we make gadgets and AI for normal people. I wrote about this before.
$24 billion for shareholders, higher prices for us
$24 billion for buybacks in a single quarter. They see the long-term financial benefit: every bought share raises earnings per share and the stock price. And at the same time, they raise prices on customers because of memory. The money for lower prices would be there. It just goes somewhere else.
A neutral night
The past quarter’s record came from price increases, not from the Duo, which wasn’t even in the numbers, and not from huge iPhone 18 Pro sales. If they had sold a lot of units, they would have made a show of it. They didn’t.
Apple says Christmas will be its best quarter ever, with a Duo you can’t buy. For me, it was a neutral night. Many questions and expectations remain about what comes next, and we will watch it closely.
Also on Evolt News: Apple “reluctantly” raised prices · HomePod mini 2 and the Siri AI fine print · John Ternus and product arrogance
Featured image: Laurenz Heymann / Unsplash.
This article is opinion.
Apple Q4 2026 earnings: FAQ
How much did Apple earn in Q4 2026?
Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, up 12% year over year, net income of $30.71 billion and earnings per share of $2.10, all above analyst expectations. Fiscal 2026 revenue was a record $479 billion.
How many iPhones did Apple sell in Q4 2026?
Apple doesn’t say. It stopped reporting unit sales in 2018 and reports only revenue. iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.58 billion, helped by a $100 price increase on the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Why did Apple stock fall after earnings?
Mainly because of margins. Apple guided December-quarter gross margin to 45-46%, below the 47.9% it just reported and below analyst expectations, because memory chip costs are rising. China revenue also missed estimates.
Will Apple raise prices again?
Apple said memory costs will keep rising beyond the December quarter, and COO Sabih Khan did not rule out further price increases. Apple already raised Mac and iPad prices in June and iPhone prices in September.
Will Siri AI cost money?
Apple said server-side AI features like Siri AI will have usage limits and that users will be able to buy expanded access in the future. It has not announced prices or the size of the limits.
Is the iPhone Duo in Apple’s Q4 2026 results?
No. The quarter ended September 26, and iPhone Duo pre-orders began on October 16. Apple says demand exceeds supply and it cannot predict when they will balance; new orders ship in late January.
Sources: Apple, Yahoo Finance, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Fortune, Investing.com, Seoul Economic Daily, Bloomberg (Mark Gurman), Reuters, Counterpoint Research.
Our Take
Apple had a record quarter, but it’s a price tag, not a sales record. Without unit numbers, more price increases ahead and Siri AI with limits and a fee, the customer pays for Apple’s records.
John Ternus passed the hard questions to his colleagues, and the Duo stays on a waiting list. For me, it was a neutral night with more questions than answers. We will watch closely what comes next.
