Apple beats on Q4 expectations, stock rises on strong outlook despite poor China sales
October 30, 2025
Apple (AAPL) announced its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday that beat on the top and bottom lines but fell just short of analysts’ expectations on iPhone sales and revenue out of China.
Despite that, Apple stock rose as much as 4% following the report on upbeat guidance from CEO Tim Cook on the company’s earnings call. According to Cook, the iPhone 17 is facing supply constraints due to high demand. And while China revenue was light in Q4, he expects the region to return to growth in Q1.
“We expect the December quarter’s revenue to be the best ever for the company and the best ever for iPhone,” Cook said.
The earnings announcement comes just days after Apple’s market capitalization crossed the $4 trillion mark, putting it in the same category as Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA), which have both broken through the threshold. Microsoft has since fallen back below $4 trillion, while Nvidia has rocketed past a $5 trillion market cap.
For the fourth quarter, Apple saw earnings per share (EPS) of $1.85 on revenue of $102.5 billion. Wall Street analysts were anticipating EPS of $1.77 on revenue of $102.2 billion.
Apple’s iPhone business, its most important, brought in $49.03 billion in revenue, shy of expectations of $49.3 billion.
“Our September quarter results capped off a record fiscal year, with revenue reaching $416 billion, as well as double-digit EPS growth,” Apple CFO Kevan Parekh said in a statement.
“And thanks to our very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, our installed base of active devices also reached a new all-time high across all product categories and geographic segments,” Parekh added.
The company’s iPhone 17 lineup includes a number of improvements over the iPhone 16, including design enhancements for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Apple also did away with its iPhone Plus model in favor of the iPhone Air, a new entry into the iPhone family that sports a thinner, lighter design.
Importantly, Apple’s fourth quarter accounts for a small portion of iPhone 17 sales, as the phones were only on sale for a few weeks ahead of the end of the financial period. Still, any revenue impact helps to provide guidance for the year ahead.
Read more: Live coverage of corporate earnings
Greater China revenue was also below expectations, coming in at $14.49 billion versus expectations of $16.43 billion.
Apple’s Services segment, its second largest behind the iPhone business, saw revenue of $28.7 billion. Wall Street was anticipating $28.2 billion.
The iPad and Mac segments saw revenue of $6.95 billion and $8.73 billion, respectively. Wearables revenue was $9 billion.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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