Apple set a September-quarter revenue record and then raised the stakes. The company told investors to expect 10 to 12 percent year-over-year growth in the December quarter, which would make it Apple’s best quarter in history.
CEO Tim Cook tied the outlook to strong iPhone 17 demand even though the reported quarter included just over a week of sales for the new lineup. He said store traffic is up and customer response is “off the chart.”
“We expect total company revenue to grow by 10 to 12% year over year, we expect iPhone revenue to grow double digits, year over year, and we expect that that would make the December quarter the best ever in the history of the company,” Cook told CNBC.
Guidance beats Wall Street
Cook spoke with CNBC’s Steve Kovach after results. Analysts tracked by LSEG expected Apple to guide to about 132.31 billion dollars in December-quarter sales. Apple’s outlook implies revenue around the mid-130s at 11 percent growth, above those expectations.
The September quarter showed steady momentum. Apple reported net income of 27.46 billion dollars, lifted by the absence of a one-time tax charge that depressed the prior year. Full-year fiscal 2025 revenue reached 416 billion dollars, up 6 percent. September-quarter sales rose 8 percent.
“We’re looking at traffic in our stores, which is up significantly year on year. We see enthusiasm around the world,” Cook said.
iPhone leads, Services accelerates
iPhone revenue rose 6 percent to 49.03 billion dollars, an early read on iPhone 17 demand. Apple said several iPhone 17 models, and some iPhone 16 models, were supply constrained.
“Currently, we’re supply constrained on several models of the iPhone 17,” Cook said.
Services grew 15 percent to 24.97 billion dollars, covering iCloud, Apple Music, App Store fees, Google search licensing, payments, and AppleCare. CFO Kevan Parekh told analysts Apple expects similar Services growth in the current quarter.
The Mac business rose 13 percent to 8.72 billion dollars, helped by MacBook Air momentum and a 100 dollar price cut to a 999 dollar starting price. Other Products, which includes Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro, slipped slightly to 9.04 billion dollars. iPad was flat at 6.95 billion dollars; Apple did not ship a new model during the quarter, though it introduced an upgraded iPad Pro with the M5 chip in October.
Margins, China, and the software roadmap
Greater China revenue fell 4 percent to 14.5 billion dollars. Cook said he expects China to return to growth in the December quarter on iPhone 17 demand.
Tariffs remain a cost line. Parekh said Apple absorbed 1.1 billion dollars in tariff costs in the September quarter and expects about 1.4 billion dollars in the December period. Gross margin reached 47.2 percent, inside Apple’s 47 to 48 percent guidance range.
“We held the pricing that we would have done without any tariffs, and we’re just absorbing the tariffs in gross margin,” Cook said.
Cook also reiterated Apple’s software plans. He said Apple will release an updated Siri next year and expects more partnerships like the ChatGPT integration inside Apple Intelligence.
