Apple reports strong third-quarter results despite global trade war
By Associated Press | Published: 2025-10-31 13:57:00 | Source: Fast Company – technology
Apple achieved financial results during its summer quarter that exceeded analysts’ expectations, despite being caught in the crosshairs of a global trade war at the same time as the leading company seeks to catch up with its major technology counterparts in the artificial intelligence race.
The performance reported Thursday was largely driven by strong initial demand for the iPhone 17 lineup that went on sale last month.
Although the iPhone 17 lacks the AI skills seen in competing devices recently introduced by Samsung and Google, Apple has updated its latest models with a redesign, most notably the elegant “liquid glass” look on the displays.
Apple has also largely maintained its prices on its latest iPhones, despite pressure from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on US devices that the company mostly makes in India and China. The tariffs cost Apple $1.1 billion last quarter, and are expected to cost another $1.4 billion during the last three months of the year.
Clearly, this formula was enough to win over consumers, especially in the United States and Europe, helping to produce iPhone sales totaling $49 billion during the July-September period, an increase of 6% from the same time last year. That was slightly less than the 8% jump in iPhone sales that analysts had expected, and less than the 13% sales increase during the April-June period.
IDC estimates that 58.6 million iPhones were sold worldwide in the July-September quarter, putting Apple second behind Samsung with 61.4 million of its Android phones sold worldwide in the quarter.
Thanks to the iPhone results, Apple achieved profits of $27.5 billion, or $1.85 per share, nearly double its profits compared to last year. Revenues rose 8% from last year to $102.5 billion. Earnings and revenues have exceeded analyst expectations that guide the stock market.
Apple shares rose 3% in extended trading after the numbers came out.
In a conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated his belief that the iPhone 17 lineup will continue to perform well, anticipating that more devices will be sold during the last three months of the year. “As we head into the offseason with our strongest lineup ever, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come,” Cook said. He pointed to the popularity of the iPhone 17 in most parts of the world except China, where sales of the device decreased by 4% from last year.
The Cupertino, California-based company expects iPhone sales to increase at least 10% compared to last year’s holiday season, according to forecasts provided by
Apple CFO, Kevan Parekh. Total revenues are expected to rise at a similar rate.
Apple stock has been on a tear since a report earlier this month from research firm International Data Corp. Which sent out a quarterly results cable with a preliminary analysis that concluded the company had set a new July-September record for iPhone sales. The rally pushed Apple’s market cap above $4 trillion for the first time earlier this week, and now the stage is set for shares to hit another new high during Friday’s regular trading session.
But Apple was widely seen as a laggard in the AI craze, which is one reason Nvidia — the chipmaker whose processors power the technology — became the first company to be valued at $5 trillion earlier this week.
Apple promised to launch a wide range of artificial intelligence features on iPhone models last year, but it was only able to deliver a few of them. Missing upgrades included a smarter, more versatile version of its much-revered virtual assistant Siri — a transformation Apple now doesn’t expect to complete until next year.
But Apple has a long history of late starts when technology starts heading in another direction before eventually catching up and coming out on top.
If Apple can achieve this again by implanting more AI features on the iPhone, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes these breakthroughs could boost the company’s market share by another $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, which translates to $75 to $100 per share.
—Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer
(tags for translation) Apple
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