Apple Hits Record Revenue as Tim Cook Warns of Memory Chip Price Surge

Apple capped an exceptionally strong fiscal third quarter on Thursday with a robust financial performance that beat Wall Street expectations, even as incoming leadership faces tightening supply chains. Total revenue for the three months ended June 30 reached $109.4 billion, representing a 16% increase year-over-year.

The Cupertino-based tech giant posted net income of $29.8 billion, or $2.02 per share, outpacing the $1.89 per share expected by analysts according to financial reports.

Tim Cook’s Final Earnings Call as CEO and the Leadership Handover to John Ternus

The quarterly call marked a historic milestone as Tim Cook participated in his final earnings conference call before stepping down from the chief executive role after 15 years at the helm. Cook will transition to executive chairman of Apple’s board, handing over the CEO baton to John Ternus on September 1 as reported by industry trackers.

Reflecting on the leadership change during the call, Cook expressed deep confidence in his successor amid glowing remarks to shareholders and analysts.

“He is truly one of a kind, and there is no better person to take the helm of the company. I couldn’t be more confident in his leadership, in our executive team and in the extraordinary people at Apple who are determined to enrich the lives of our users all over the world.”

Tim Cook, Outgoing CEO, Apple

Hardware Surge Across iPhone and Mac Compares With Slower Growth in Services

Hardware sales powered the quarter’s revenue beat, led by the iPhone lineup. iPhone revenue hit $54 billion, reflecting a 22% increase from the previous year as consumers continually upgraded to the latest models. The Mac category also performed exceptionally well, generating $10 billion in revenue—a 29% jump—helped by robust global demand and the popularity of the entry-level MacBook Neo according to hardware analysts.

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Product Segment	Q3 2026 Revenue	Performance Metric
iPhone	$54 billion	Up 22% year-over-year
Services	$31 billion	Up 12% year-over-year
Mac	$10 billion	Up 29% year-over-year
Wearables, Home & Accessories	$8 billion	Stable contribution
iPad	$6 billion	Steady sales volume

While up 12% year-over-year and marking a June quarter milestone, the figure fell slightly short of some aggressive analyst projections as noted in market recaps. Meanwhile, Apple TV scored broader cultural milestones during the period, securing 89 Emmy nominations—including 19 for the new program Widow’s Bay—while expanding its prestige catalog according to company announcements.

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Global Memory Chip Crunch and the Warning Over a Hundred-Year Flood in Pricing

Despite strong quarterly numbers, the outlook for the upcoming period weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Apple forecast revenue growth for the current quarter between 9% and 10%, falling short of the 12% growth rate anticipated by Wall Street as reported by market observers.

In June, Apple took the step of raising retail prices on Mac computers and iPad tablets to absorb rising RAM and storage expenses as confirmed by executive statements. Cook pulled no punches when addressing the cost environment during the earnings call.

“On the pricing front, you know, we reluctantly raised prices. I would say we did it because we’re in what I would characterize as a 100-year flood on memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices, so that was the rationale for it.”

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

He added that Apple is actively evaluating all options to navigate component procurement while addressing long-term procurement strategy.

Market Reaction and Strategic Positioning on Device AI

Wall Street reacted cautiously to the supply warnings. Shares of Apple dropped as much as 8% in after-hours trading following the report, though the stock later recovered some ground to trade down roughly 6% from its closing price of $333.85 according to market trading data. Even with the after-hours dip, Apple remains the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalization hovering near $4.9 trillion as tracked by financial desks.

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Unlike tech competitors pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into capital expenditures for data center infrastructure, Apple has largely bypassed the heavy infrastructure arms race according to industry analysts.

“The ability to run some percentage of requests on-device is also very strategic, sort of a competitive weapon if you will.”

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

As Apple prepares for its September product cycle—which analysts expect to include new iPhone iterations and potential foldable devices according to ongoing industry reports—investors and incoming executive leadership will need to manage persistent supply constraints and component cost pressures without dampening consumer demand.