This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Apple (AAPL, Financials) forecast stronger Christmas quarter iPhone sales and revenue than Wall Street predicted, citing strong demand for its iPhone 17 series. CEO Tim Cook predicts double-digit iPhone revenue growth and 10%12% business revenue growth. Based on LSEG data, experts anticipated 9.8% iPhone growth to $75.91 billion and 6.6% total sales growth to $132.53 billion.
Supply concerns and regulatory delays delivering the iPhone Air variant in China lowered Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter iPhone sales to $49.03 billion from $50.19 billion. Sales for the quarter ended Sept. 27 were $102.47 billion, above the $102.26 billion consensus, while EPS was $1.85, above $1.77.Demand surpassed supply for several iPhone 17 models, delaying production throughout the quarter, Cook said. Poor Q4 sales of $14.49 billion vs $16.24 billion expected were blamed on the China delay. Cook said normalizing shipments will boost Apple’s first fiscal quarter growth.Other items filled the iPhone gap. At $9.01 billion, AirPods and Apple Watch sales topped estimates. Services revenue exceeded estimates at $28.75 billion, while Mac and iPad sales were stable.After the forecast, Apple shares rose 3.7% after-hours. Analysts said the positive estimate shows continuing global demand despite trade tensions and supply issues. The company spent $1.1 billion on tariffs in the fourth quarter and expects $1.4 billion this quarter, with gross margins of 47% to 48%.