SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 30, 2026, 01:36 (PST)
Apple forecast revenue growth of 13% to 16% for its March quarter, topping analyst expectations, after strong iPhone 17 demand powered a holiday-quarter beat and a sharp rebound in China. Apple shares rose as much as 3.5% in extended trading before trimming gains, after the company posted $143.8 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.84 for the quarter ended Dec. 27. Apple also projected operating expenses of $18.4 billion to $18.7 billion and flagged processor supply constraints for iPhone production, with Taiwan’s TSMC making its chips. (Reuters)
The outlook matters because Apple still lives and dies by hardware cycles, and the iPhone’s holiday quarter is the cleanest read on demand. CEO Tim Cook called the period “record-breaking,” saying the iPhone had its “best-ever” quarter, while Services — its subscriptions and App Store business — set a revenue record. Finance chief Kevan Parekh said Apple generated nearly $54 billion in operating cash flow and returned almost $32 billion to shareholders; the board declared a $0.26-per-share dividend. (Apple)
It also lands with Apple under steady pressure to show it can ship hit devices while building a credible artificial intelligence story. The company has said a revamped Siri voice assistant will be powered by Google’s Gemini models, as investors compare Apple’s pace with rivals pushing faster AI rollouts. “Wall Street may be overly fixated on splashy AI,” Thomas Monteiro, a senior analyst at Investing.com, told the Guardian, pointing instead to what he called strong iPhone demand. (The Guardian)
Apple’s results statement showed iPhone net sales of $85.27 billion, up from $69.14 billion a year earlier, while Services rose to $30.01 billion. Sales in Greater China climbed to $25.53 billion from $18.51 billion, and wearables, home and accessories slipped to $11.49 billion; Mac revenue fell to $8.39 billion.
Supply is the other half of the story. Cook said Apple left the December quarter with “very lean” inventory and is now in “supply chase mode,” with limits on advanced chipmaking capacity tightening parts supply, Business Insider reported. He said higher memory costs should weigh more on margins this quarter, even as Apple guided gross margin — the slice of sales left after product costs — at 48% to 49%. “We do continue to see market pricing for memory increasing significantly,” Cook said. (Business Insider)
The memory squeeze is not just Apple’s problem. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — which together control about two-thirds of the DRAM market, a common type of memory used in phones and PCs — have warned that the rush to build AI servers is pulling production toward higher-bandwidth memory (HBM) and away from conventional chips. “PC and mobile customers are adjusting purchase volumes,” SK Hynix said, as prices rise; research firms IDC and Counterpoint now expect global smartphone sales to shrink at least 2% in 2026, while IDC sees the PC market contracting about 4.9%. (Reuters)
Samsung has struck the same note from the supplier side, forecasting the shortage will persist into 2026 and 2027 as AI demand drives pricing power. “A significant shortage of memory products across the board is expected to continue,” Samsung memory executive Kim Jaejune told analysts. For handset makers — including Samsung itself — that can mean a margin fight even if unit demand holds up. (Reuters)
Apple also moved on the AI front with a deal of its own. The company said it acquired Israeli audio AI startup Q.ai, which it said has worked on machine-learning tools to help devices pick up whispered speech and improve audio in difficult environments. Apple did not disclose terms, but the deal valued Q.ai at about $1.6 billion, a source said, and roughly 100 employees will join Apple; the startup has filed patents tied to “facial skin micromovements” for silent speech and emotion detection. (Reuters)
The Services engine kept humming as hardware demand surged. Apple’s Services revenue grew 14% year on year, while Mac and wearables declined, The Verge reported, underscoring why investors watch subscriptions and app fees as a stabiliser when device sales swing. The company has also said it plans to bring more AI-powered personalisation to Siri this year, even as it works through a constrained iPhone supply chain. (The Verge)
But the next quarter is not a victory lap. Apple has warned that higher memory prices could bite harder in the current period, and Cook sidestepped questions about whether the company might raise product prices to offset component costs. He has described the impact so far as limited, but the risk is simple: if chips stay tight, Apple may struggle to fully meet demand — and margin pressure could show up faster than investors expect. (Investing)
