Apple posts record September quarter despite price hikes

By Finance News On Nov 2, 2026

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CUPERTINO, Calif. – Despite raising prices on multiple popular devices, Apple reported record September-quarter revenue and earnings per share Monday, driven by strong iPhone and Mac sales in the first earnings report under new CEO John Ternus.

Revenue jumped a better-than-expected 12% from a year earlier to $114.5 billion, while earnings per share rose 14% to $2.10, both topping Wall Street estimates. The results capped Apple’s best fiscal year ever, with revenue rising 15% to $478.8 billion.

The three months ended in September included just eight days of iPhone 18 Pro sales. Ternus said Apple was “thrilled with the customer response” to the new lineup, even as questions linger over whether the iPhone 18 can match the success of its predecessor. Analysts at JPMorgan, Wedbush and Evercore have pointed to the iPhone 17’s exceptionally strong upgrade cycle, setting a difficult comparison for this year’s models. iPhone revenue nevertheless grew 17% to $57.6 billion in the September quarter.

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Apple CEO John Ternus holds an iPhone 18 Pro at the Apple Fifth Avenue flagship store during the launch of the Apple iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in New York City on Sept. 18, 2026. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

Meanwhile, Apple’s first foldable iPhone, the Duo, remains in short supply, with delivery estimates on some orders stretching into 2027 and customers reporting difficulty finding the device in stores.

“The Duo is constrained as of today,” Ternus said in an interview. “The ramp is going well, and we’re working really hard to get it into customers’ hands as quickly as possible.” He said Apple could not yet predict when supply would catch up with demand.

Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook on Sept. 1, said the stronger-than-expected September-quarter results came despite “supply constraints and FX headwinds.” The quarter was his first earnings report at the helm of the company.

The iPhone Duo, Apple’s first-ever foldable smartphone. (Apple Inc.)

One of the biggest challenges is surging memory-chip prices, driven in part by the AI buildout. Some flash-memory prices have climbed more than 500% from 2023 levels, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Ternus described the disruption as “absolutely unprecedented.” Yet Apple’s gross margin, a closely watched measure of profitability, came in broadly in line with expectations at 47.9%.

“As we said earlier in the September quarter, we did see higher memory costs compared to the June quarter,” Ternus said. He said carry-in inventory and lower prices for certain non-memory components provided some relief. “We changed the price on many of our products, including Mac and iPad at the end of June and iPhone in September,” he…