Apple Posts Record Fiscal Year, Leans on AI to Drive Upgrades

Apple closed its fiscal year with record revenue and earnings per share, even as the company leans more heavily on artificial intelligence — both its own software and partnerships with outside AI providers — to keep hardware sales climbing, according to The Verge.

The quarterly earnings call, held this week, mentioned AI 45 times, The Verge reported, underscoring how central the technology has become to Apple's pitch to investors even though the company has not broken out how much AI is contributing to sales.

How did iPhone and Mac sales perform?

iPhone revenue rose 17.5% from a year earlier to $57.6 billion, a September-quarter record, The Verge reported. Mac revenue climbed 24% to $10.8 billion, its highest level in four years. Those gains helped push Apple to its best-ever fiscal year for both total revenue and earnings per share.

Why did Apple shares fall despite the record results?

Shares fell in premarket trading Tuesday after Apple warned that rising memory costs would squeeze profit margins in the holiday quarter, according to The Verge. The warning came even as the underlying sales figures beat prior-year marks, a split that left investors weighing near-term cost pressure against a strong annual performance.

What did Apple's CFO say about AI and revenue?

CFO Kevan Parekh told analysts on the call that the company sees a "wide range of ways that AI can contribute to revenue growth over time," The Verge reported.

"On the product side, we feel AI offers a compelling reason for customers to upgrade and switch in order to get the latest capabilities," Parekh said, according to The Verge. "And we also feel there's opportunities across third-party apps and partnerships as well as first-party opportunities."

That framing positions AI less as a single product and more as a sales lever across Apple's device lineup — one the company can pull without matching the infrastructure spending that rivals have poured into AI data centers, The Verge reported.

How is Apple's AI approach different from competitors'?

Apple has not disclosed how much of its revenue growth reflects AI demand specifically versus higher prices, The Verge reported. But the company's strategy, as described on the call, relies on selling devices that run AI regardless of whether the underlying AI model is Apple's own or a third party's. That lets Apple capture upgrade and switching revenue from AI interest without necessarily building and running the largest AI systems itself, according to the earnings call coverage.

What happens next for Apple's AI push?

Apple's near-term challenge, per the earnings call, is managing margin pressure from memory costs heading into the holiday quarter while continuing to position AI capability as a reason for customers to buy new iPhones and Macs. The company has not provided a specific timeline or figure for when AI-driven sales might be broken out separately from the rest of its hardware revenue, The Verge reported.

FAQ

Did Apple say how much AI contributed to its record year? No. The Verge reported that Apple has not disclosed how much of its revenue growth reflects AI demand versus higher prices.

Why did Apple stock drop after a record fiscal year? Shares fell in premarket trading after Apple warned that rising memory costs would squeeze profit margins in the holiday quarter, according to The Verge.

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