Apple blows past sales forecasts as customers snapped up iPhones ahead of Trump's tariffs

Core Insights - Apple reported a fiscal third quarter revenue of $94.04 billion, a nearly 10% increase year-over-year, surpassing analyst expectations of $89.54 billion [1] - Earnings per share reached $1.57, exceeding the anticipated $1.43 per share [1] Sales Performance - iPhone sales increased by 13.5% to $44.58 billion, outperforming analyst expectations of $40.22 billion [2][7] - Sales in the Americas segment rose by 9.3% to $41.2 billion, despite potential tariff impacts [4] Supply Chain and Tariffs - Apple has shifted production to India and Vietnam to mitigate the effects of US tariffs, which could cost the company $900 million in the fiscal third quarter [3] - The company trimmed its annual share buyback program by $10 billion to maintain financial flexibility [3] Consumer Behavior - CEO Tim Cook noted that approximately 1 percentage point of the 9.6% sales growth was due to early purchases ahead of potential tariffs [5] - There was evidence of pull-ahead purchases related to tariff announcements [6] Competitive Landscape - Apple faces competition from Samsung in the premium mobile phone market and challenges from Alphabet in the software domain [9] - The company is increasing investments in artificial intelligence, despite delays in releasing an AI-enhanced version of Siri [10][15] Services and Other Products - Sales from Apple's services business, including the App Store, reached $27.42 billion, exceeding expectations of $26.8 billion [12] - Wearables sales were $7.4 billion, below estimates of $7.82 billion, while Mac sales of $8.05 billion surpassed expectations of $7.26 billion [13] Financial Metrics - Gross margins were reported at 46.5%, beating analyst expectations of 45.9% [14]