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Apple’s Q4 2026 earnings beat estimates, but holiday-quarter margins cloud the outlook
Apple reported $114.48 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, up 11.7%, and diluted EPS of $2.10, beating estimates. iPhone revenue rose about 17.5% to $57.58 billion, and Services set a record at $31.57 billion.
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Key takeaways
- Apple reported $114.48 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, up 11.7%, and diluted EPS of $2.10, beating estimates.
- iPhone revenue rose about 17.5% to $57.58 billion, and Services set a record at $31.57 billion.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: How did Apple perform in its fiscal fourth quarter ended September 26, 2026, as reported on November 2 in John Ternus’s first earnings relea. Article summary: Apple reported a record September quarter, with revenue of $114.48 billion and diluted EPS of $2.10, beating FactSet estimates in John Ternus’s first earnings report as CEO. The earnings beat was followed by a negative s. Topic tags: general, general web, news. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake numbers
Apple posted record September-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion, up 11.7% year over year, and diluted earnings per share of $2.10, up 13.5%. Both topped analyst estimates in John Ternus’s first earnings report as CEO. But the results came with a caveat: tariff refunds boosted reported profitability, and Apple’s forecast for lower holiday-quarter margins helped send shares down during its earnings call. 8
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Apple beat revenue and earnings estimates
Revenue exceeded FactSet’s $113.4 billion estimate, while diluted EPS beat the $1.99 estimate. Net income was $30.7 billion, compared with $27.5 billion in the year-ago quarter. The available reporting does not provide a comparable LSEG net-income estimate. 19
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Apple reported a gross margin of 47.9%, including an approximately one-percentage-point benefit from tariff refunds. The refunds also added $0.05 to diluted EPS, putting EPS at about $2.05 without that contribution; Reuters reported that earnings still topped the $1.99 estimate excluding the refund benefit. 8
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iPhone and Services led sales
iPhone revenue reached $57.58 billion, up about 17.5% year over year and above the $56.54 billion estimate. Services set a record at $31.57 billion, up 9.8%. 14
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Mac revenue rose 23.7% to $10.79 billion, beating the $9.61 billion estimate. iPad revenue was $6.23 billion, below the $6.7 billion estimate, and was down about 10% year over year. Wearables, Home and Accessories generated $8.3 billion, below the $9.06 billion estimate and down about 8% year over year. 30
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Full-year results, cash flow and dividend
For fiscal 2026, Apple reported record revenue of $478.8 billion, up 15%, and EPS of $8.98, up 20%. Quarterly operating cash flow was about $28 billion, and Apple returned about $28 billion to shareholders. It also declared a $0.27-per-share cash dividend, payable November 16, 2026. 6
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Why the outlook mattered more than the beat
Apple forecast gross margin of 45%–46% for the December quarter, down from 47.9% in September and below the 46.3% analyst average reported by CNBC. It also forecast Services growth of 8%–9%, compared with analysts’ 10.7% expectation. Apple pointed to rising memory costs as a pressure on margins. 30
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The company’s overall December-quarter revenue outlook was more positive: it expected year-over-year growth of 7%–10%, versus the 6.1% analyst average cited by CNBC. Investors therefore had two signals to weigh—expected revenue growth, but pressure on profitability and slower Services growth. 30
Shares were initially little changed after the results, fell about 4% during the call as executives discussed the outlook, and later pared the decline to around 2%. 2
The quarter also did not include iPhone Duo sales: the device launched after the fiscal quarter ended on September 26. iPhone 18 Pro sales were included, while the Duo’s strong initial demand and supply constraints became part of the holiday-quarter discussion. 11
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What is the short answer to "Apple’s Q4 2026 earnings beat estimates, but holiday-quarter margins cloud the outlook"?
Apple reported $114.48 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, up 11.7%, and diluted EPS of $2.10, beating estimates.
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Apple reported $114.48 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, up 11.7%, and diluted EPS of $2.10, beating estimates. iPhone revenue rose about 17.5% to $57.58 billion, and Services set a record at $31.57 billion.