Apple’s record Q4 2024 earnings: Services, iPhones sales up; tax hit eats into profit

Macworld

Apple on Thursday announced its fourth quarter 2024 earnings, posting revenue of $94.9 billion for the quarter, a 6 percent increase year over year, and a record for the quarter. Quarterly earnings per diluted share are $0.97. Diluted earnings per share was $1.64, up 12 percent year over year. The company reported $14.7 billion in profit.

Apple beat the analysts’ predicted revenue of $94.58 billion expected, $1.60 diluted earnings per share.

Apple continues to see growth in Services, which posted $25 billion in revenue, a 12 percent increase from last year’s $22.3 billion. iPhone sales were up year over year, posting $46.2 billion in revenue, which is a 5.5 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2023. iPad sales were also up, posting $6.9 billion in revenue, which is a 7.9 percent increase. Mac sales were also up slightly to $7.4 billion, compared to $7.6 billion in 2023.

Apple’s Wearables, Home, and Accessories category was the one place where the company saw a decline, posting $9 billion in revenue, a 3 percent decrease from 2023’s $9.3 billion. Apple did state during the announcement call that the Apple Watch installed base reached an all-time high, but did not offer specifics.

Apple’s profit this year took a hit due to tax provisions. In a September filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple stated that it would “record a one-time income tax charge in its fourth fiscal quarter ending September 28, 2024, of up to approximately $10 billion.” Apple posted a profit of $23 billion for the same quarter a year ago.

How the quarter ended year-over-year for Apple:

iPhone: $46.2 billion (up from $43.8 billion)

iPad: $6.9 billion (up from $6.4 billion)

Mac: $7.7 billion (up from $7.6 billion)

Wearables: $9 billion (down from $9.3 billion)

Services: $25 billion (up from $22.3 billion)

Apple declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock payable on November 14, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 11, 2024.

“Today Apple is reporting a new September quarter revenue record of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a press release. “During the quarter, we were excited to announce our best products yet, with the all-new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and remarkable features for hearing health and sleep apnea detection. And this week, we released our first set of features for Apple Intelligence, which sets a new standard for privacy in AI and supercharges our lineup heading into the holiday season.”

This financial earnings announcement was the last for Apple CFO Luca Maestri, who announced last August that he is stepping down from the role. Kevan Parekh will become Apple’s new CFO next year.