Apple Reports Record Revenue as Tim Cook Prepares for Retirement

Apple Inc. reported record fiscal third-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase, exceeding Wall Street expectations. The company earned $29.79 billion, representing a 27% increase over the previous year. Growth was fueled by a 22% jump in iPhone revenue to $54.3 billion and a 29% surge in Mac revenue to $10.4 billion, the latter driven largely by the new MacBook Neo.

These results marked the final earnings call for CEO Tim Cook, who will transition to executive chairman on September 1. He will be succeeded by John Ternus, currently the senior vice president of hardware engineering. Despite the record performance, Apple shares fell in after-hours trading as the company forecast a more modest revenue growth of 9% to 11% for the September quarter, citing foreign exchange headwinds and significant supply chain constraints.

Supply issues are primarily linked to an AI-driven memory chip shortage, which forced Apple to raise the MacBook Neo's price from $599 to $699. To mitigate these shortages, Apple has lobbied the U.S. government for permission to source chips from the Chinese vendor ChangXin Memory Technologies. Additionally, earnings were bolstered by tariff refunds following a Supreme Court of the United States ruling against global tariffs. The company also recently launched Apple Upgrade, a monthly installment leasing program in the United States.