Apple Reports Mixed Outlook Under CEO John Ternus

Apple Inc. reported a mixed fiscal fourth-quarter outlook under the leadership of John Ternus, who took office as chief executive officer on September 1. The company predicted holiday revenue growth between 7% and 10%, surpassing Wall Street estimates of 6.1%. However, shares fell more than 3% on Tuesday morning after the company projected December quarter gross margins of 45% to 46%, missing the 47% analyst projection.

Apple attributed the margin decline to increased memory costs and expenses associated with the new Siri AI digital assistant. For the fiscal fourth quarter ending September 26, total revenue rose 12% to $114.5 billion. Growth was driven by a 17% increase in iPhone revenue to $57.6 billion and a 24% climb in Mac revenue to $10.8 billion, though the iPad and wearables segments showed disappointing results.

The company is currently expanding its hardware lineup following the October 23 launch of the foldable iPhone Duo, which saw its first in-store sales in Shanghai.