Apple, record earnings: iPhone drives sales

Apple closed the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 with strong financial results, posting revenue of $94.93 billion, a 6% increase from the same period a year earlier. The figure marks a new record for the September quarter, confirming the company’s strength in the market, considering that in the same period of 2023 Apple had recorded revenues of $89.5 billion. Despite the excellent overall performance, the quarter was affected by an extraordinary tax of 10.2 billion dollars, following a decision by the Irish authorities which required the payment of 13 billion euros in back taxes. This item reduced Apple’s net income, which reached $14.74 billion for the quarter. At the level of earnings per share, Apple reported $0.97, but excluding the extraordinary tax, the value would have been $1.64.

A deeper dive into revenue shows that the iPhone continues to be the primary growth driver for Apple, with revenue of $46.22 billion, up 5.5% from the same quarter last year. The Mac sector recorded a smaller increase of 1.71%, bringing revenues to $7.74 billion. The iPad also performed well, with revenues reaching $6.95 billion, marking an increase of 7.87%. Conversely, the product category that includes wearables, home devices and accessories saw a slight decline, with revenues coming in at $9.04 billion, a 3% decrease from last year. However, services remain one of the most promising segments for Apple, with significant growth of 11.91%, generating $24.97 billion. This category has proven to be crucial for the company, consolidating its revenue diversification strategy.

CEO Tim Cook underlined Apple’s satisfaction with these results, drawing attention to the launch of the new iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 range. These products include innovative features such as hearing and hearing health monitoring sleep apnea, developments that demonstrate the company’s commitment to advanced technology for user well-being. Furthermore, Cook mentioned Apple Intelligence, the new suite of tools based on artificial intelligence that introduces high standards of privacy and represents one of the main innovations of the season.

The financial director, Luca Maestri, also commented on the results, expressing satisfaction with the solidity of the operating cash flow, which exceeded 27 billion dollars. This enabled Apple to return more than $29 billion to shareholders, highlighting strong financial management and a steady increase in the installed base of Apple devices, which reached a new all-time high across all product categories and geographies. With these results, Apple looks to the future with optimism, and this quarter’s data, although positive, only provide a preview of what lies ahead in the first quarter of 2025, when the performance of Christmas sales will give a more complete vision of the success of the new products.