Apple earnings: What investors should know about recent revenues, profits

• Apple releases earnings quarterly.
• On calls with investors, CEO Tim Cook addresses Apple's results and trajectory.
• The Q3 2024 call was dominated by discussions about Apple Intelligence.

Apple, the tech powerhouse behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more, and services like Apple TV+, Apple Music, and the App Store, releases its earnings quarterly.

Typically, Apple CEO Tim Cook joins the calls to reflect on the results and discuss the company's future trajectory. Cook and Apple's CFO field questions from analysts to keep investors in the know about the company's financial standing.

The calls usually cover topics like the revenue of Apple products. The iPhone almost always makes up most of the company's overall sales, but it fell in the most recent quarter from the year prior.

Here's a breakdown of Apple's recent earnings.

Apple Q3 earnings 2024

Apple held its earnings call for its fiscal Q3, which ended June 29, on August 1.

iPhone sales may have slowed in Q3, but services soared, and the iPad lineup launched in May received shoutouts from Apple execs. iPad revenue was up 24% year-over-year in the quarter.

Apple generated $85.8 billion in revenue for Q3 — beating out estimates.

Apple Intelligence, announced at the June Worldwide Developers Conference, was a big talking point during the call. Cook said that its rollout would begin in 2024 and continue in 2025.

Cook said the company was "optimistic" about AI.

Apple Q2 earnings

Apple held its earnings call for its fiscal Q2, which ended on March 30, on May 2.

Sales in Greater China were better than expected, but overall iPhone sales fell 10% from the year prior. Apple also announced its biggest stock buyback ever at $110 billion.

Cook praised the Vision Pro headset, which was released on February 2, and said that Apple was "off to a good start" with the device, which was its first major new product line since the Apple Watch.

Revenue for Q2 narrowly beat out estimates, coming in at $90.75 billion overall.

Apple Q1 earnings

Apple held its earnings call for its fiscal Q1, which ended December 30, 2023, on February 1.

In the first quarter, Apple reported its first year-over-year revenue gain in over a year. Cook told analysts to expect AI announcements from Apple later in the year.

So far, the word for the year regarding Apple's performance in Greater China is "optimistic" because Cook also used it in the Q1 call. The company fell short of analyst estimates for revenue in Greater China with $20.8 billion — a 13% drop year-over-year.

Revenue in Q1 was $119.58 billion, and Cook gave listeners more details about the $3,500 Vision Pro headset.

Apple earnings history

In fiscal Q4 of 2023, questions about the company's future in China dominated the discussion about earnings.

On the call, Apple CEO Tim Cook reported that though Apple's overall revenue declined for a fourth consecutive quarter, revenue from the iPhone increased.

Cook stated his optimism about Apple's prospects in China and emphasized the importance of the market to the company.

Apple's Q4 revenue in China failed to meet Wall Street expectations, though it still reached over $15 billion.

Fiscal Q3 2023 revenue was $81.8 billion, a decrease of 1% year over year. However, the company hit a record high in services revenue, which included over 1 billion paid subscriptions.

Apple currently pays a dividend of $0.25 per share.