Apple Shares Drop 10% on Weak Fourth-Quarter Guidance

Apple Inc. saw its shares decline as much as 10% following the release of its fiscal third-quarter 2026 report on July 30. The company achieved record earnings per share and exceeded Wall Street revenue estimates, supported by a 22% increase in iPhone revenue to $54.25 billion and a 15.3% year-over-year increase in iPhone shipments.

Despite these gains, the stock fell due to disappointing future guidance. Apple projected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth between 9% and 11%, missing the 12% growth expected by analysts. This outlook is constrained by an industry-wide shortage of DRAM and NAND memory chips, which is expected to increase supply costs and reduce gross margins from 50.1% to a range of 47% to 48%.

While iPhone performance outpaced competitors like Samsung, other sectors showed weakness. Services revenue growth slowed to 12%, marking the lowest growth rate among the company's three largest categories. CEO Tim Cook described the third-quarter results as an "incredible blowout."