Apple Sets November 2 for First Earnings Call Under CEO John Ternus

What the quarter will reveal is something else: the first full three months of the price increases Apple rolled out across much of its hardware lineup in late June, including on the iPhone 18 Pro line. It will also show how Apple managed another stretch of memory shortages and rising component costs that executives have been flagging for months.

Apple's own guidance, given during the Q3 call, pointed to total revenue growth of 9 to 11 percent year over year, with iPhone revenue specifically expected to grow in the mid-teens percentage range. Based on last year's $102.5 billion in Q4 revenue, that guidance implies a range of roughly $111.7 billion to $113.7 billion this time. Apple flagged a 2.5 percentage-point hit from foreign exchange and warned of tighter supply constraints across iPhone, Mac and iPad than usual.

Gross margin guidance came in at 47 to 48 percent, down from 50.1 percent in the prior quarter, a figure that had included roughly a two-percentage-point boost from tariff refunds that won't repeat.

For comparison, Apple's fiscal Q4 2025 produced $102.47 billion in revenue, up 8 percent, and $27.47 billion in profit, an 87 percent jump from the $14.7 billion Apple posted in Q4 2024. That spike came from a one-time $10.2 billion tax charge tied to Apple's long-running dispute with Irish tax authorities, not from underlying operating strength, so year-over-year profit comparisons this time around are likely to look very different.

The quarter also included the launches of the Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5, all of which should factor into the results, alongside whatever Apple says about holiday-quarter expectations once the call gets to the question and answer segment.

The bigger test of Ternus's tenure, and of how the iPhone 18 Pro actually sold, will have to wait. That verdict arrives with Apple's fiscal Q1 2026 report in late January, the first full quarter he'll have run from the start.