Apple Q4 FY2026: iPhone revenue up 17% to $57.6B, as gross margin slipped to 47.9% and R&D rose 32%

Apple sells iPhones, Macs, iPads, wearables and home devices, and earns a growing share of its profit from Services: the App Store, advertising, iCloud, AppleCare, payments and subscriptions. The September quarter is the one in which new iPhones launch, and this year’s lineup included the iPhone Duo alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, according to the release.

Two things make the margin line harder to read than usual. Apple booked tariff refunds in both the June and September quarters, and it quantifies them only roughly (“approximately” 2 points, then 1 point). And the annual report, filed the day after the release, adds a cost disclosure the release does not carry. So this piece starts with what the refunds hide, then follows the expense lines, the product mix and the balance sheet.

Apple Q4 FY2026 results at a glance

$ millions, except per share	Q4 FY2026	Q3 FY2026	Q4 FY2025
Total net sales	114,477	109,417	102,466
iPhone	57,583	54,252	49,025
Mac	10,792	10,352	8,726
iPad	6,229	6,191	6,952
Wearables, Home and Accessories	8,300	7,883	9,013
Services	31,573	30,739	28,750
Gross margin	54,820	54,770	48,341
Research and development	11,730	11,729	8,866
Operating income	35,631	35,695	32,427
Net income	30,711	29,789	27,466
Diluted EPS	$2.10	$2.02	$1.85

The Q3 column is from the June-quarter release (Form 8-K filed July 30, 2026).

A 47.9% gross margin, about 1 point of it tariff refunds

Gross margin was 47.9% of revenue, and the release says it includes a favorable impact of approximately 1 percentage point from tariff refunds; EPS included $0.05 from the same refunds. In the June quarter, gross margin was 50.1% with about 2 points of refunds and $0.11 of EPS. Taking the refunds out, the margin was roughly 46.9% this quarter against roughly 48.1% in June, and against 47.2% a year earlier, a quarter the release does not describe as carrying refunds (our arithmetic, using the release’s rounded “approximately” figures).

Split by type, Products gross margin was about 37.2% against 40.1% in the June quarter and 36.2% a year earlier, while Services held at about 76.0%, against 75.6% in June and 75.3% a year earlier (our arithmetic from the cost-of-sales lines). So the drop from June came from hardware, in the quarter when new iPhones ship.

For the full fiscal year, the 10-K puts Products gross margin at 39.3%, up from 36.8%, “primarily due to product mix and tariff refunds, partially offset by higher costs, including memory”. The same report says Apple “is experiencing supply constraints and rising costs” for advanced semiconductors, memory and storage, and “expects these trends to intensify for memory and storage components”. It adds that price increases Apple has taken or may take “may not effectively mitigate” those costs and may reduce demand.

R&D up 32%, and operating income grew slower than revenue

Research and development expense was $11,730 million, up about 32% from $8,866 million a year earlier and about 10.2% of revenue, against 8.7% (our arithmetic). The release does not break down where it went; the CEO’s quote points to the new hardware and “the all-new Siri AI”. Selling, general and administrative expense rose about 6% to $7,459 million (our arithmetic).

With operating expenses up about 21% and revenue up 12%, operating income rose about 10% to $35,631 million, and the operating margin edged down to about 31.1% from 31.6% (our arithmetic). Net income grew about 12% to $30,711 million (our arithmetic), helped by $504 million of other income and a lower effective tax rate: the provision of $5,424 million was about 15.0% of pre-tax income, against 16.3% a year earlier (our arithmetic). Diluted shares fell about 1.6% to 14,630 million (our arithmetic), which is part of why EPS rose 14%, faster than net income.

iPhone and Mac carried the quarter; iPad and wearables fell

iPhone revenue of $57,583 million was a September-quarter record, per the release, and about 50% of total revenue, against about 48% a year earlier (our arithmetic). Mac rose about 24% to $10,792 million. iPad fell about 10% to $6,229 million and Wearables, Home and Accessories about 8% to $8,300 million (all our arithmetic). Services reached an all-time high of $31,573 million, up about 10%, against about 12% growth in the June quarter (our arithmetic).

By geography, Greater China rose about 21% to $17,539 million, Rest of Asia Pacific about 15%, Europe about 12% and the Americas about 10%, while Japan slipped about 1% to $6,540 million (our arithmetic).

For the fiscal year, revenue was $478,834 million, up 15%, iPhone $254,098 million (up 21%) and Services $123,301 million (up 13%), as the 10-K reports.

Inventory at about 2.5 times its year-ago level

Inventories were $14,541 million at September 26, about 2.5 times the $5,718 million of a year earlier (our arithmetic), and $11,092 million at June 27. For fiscal 2026, the cash flow statement shows $8,905 million of cash going into inventory, against a $1,400 million release of cash the year before. Apple does not explain the build in the release; it sits alongside the 10-K’s description of supply constraints for key components.

Cash generated by operating activities was about $28.1 billion in the quarter (our arithmetic: fiscal-year $145,097 million less the nine-month $116,996 million in the June-quarter release), in line with the CFO’s “$28 billion”, against about $29.7 billion a year earlier (our arithmetic). Fourth-quarter buybacks were about $24.3 billion and dividends about $3.9 billion (our arithmetic from the same cash flow statements). At September 26, cash and marketable securities were about $136.9 billion against about $80.1 billion of commercial paper and term debt, about $56.8 billion of net cash (our arithmetic). The board declared a dividend of $0.27 per share.

What to watch in Q1 FY2027

• Gross margin without refunds. Refunds added about 2 points in June and about 1 point in September. How much is left in the December quarter, and what the margin looks like without it, is the clean read on memory costs.
• Memory and storage costs. The 10-K expects them to intensify, and says price increases may not offset them.
• The new lineup. iPhone Duo and the iPhone 18 Pro models launched in the quarter; the holiday quarter is their first full one.
• Inventory. $14.5 billion, about 2.5 times a year earlier.
• R&D pace. About $11.7 billion in each of the last two quarters, against $8.9 billion a year earlier.

Quick answers

How much did Apple earn in Q4 FY2026?

Net income was $30,711 million and diluted EPS $2.10, up 14% from $1.85 a year earlier. The release says EPS included a $0.05 favorable impact from tariff refunds.

What was Apple’s gross margin in Q4 FY2026?

Gross margin was 47.9%, including about 1 percentage point from tariff refunds, per the release. It was 50.1% in the June quarter, including about 2 points of refunds, and about 47.2% a year earlier.

Did Apple give guidance for the December quarter?

Not in the release or the 10-K. The fourth-quarter release contains no revenue or margin outlook. Its 10-K says supply constraints and rising costs for memory and storage are expected to intensify.

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Sources and method. Every company figure is Apple’s own disclosure, read directly from SEC EDGAR and linked above. Fourth-quarter and year-ago revenue by category and segment, cost of sales, gross margin, the tariff-refund impacts, operating expenses, other income, taxes, net income, EPS, share counts, the September 26 balance sheet, the fiscal-year cash flow statement and the dividend come from Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K filed 2026-11-02 (accession 0000320193-26-000024) for the quarter ended 2026-09-26. Fiscal-year Products and Services gross margin percentages, their drivers, fiscal-year category growth and the memory and storage disclosure come from the Form 10-K filed 2026-11-03 (accession 0000320193-26-000026). June-quarter comparatives, the June-quarter tariff-refund impacts, the June 27 inventory balance and the nine-month cash flow come from the June-quarter release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1, filed 2026-07-30, accession 0000320193-26-000018). The results were filed with the SEC at 4:30 pm ET on 2026-11-02 (Form 8-K acceptance time on the EDGAR filing index), after the US market closed; the release scheduled its call for 2:00 p.m. PT the same day.

No consensus estimate is included, so this piece makes no claim that the quarter beat or missed expectations. Apple’s release contains no quantitative guidance, so the quarter is judged against the year-ago quarter and the June quarter. This piece makes no claim about the share-price reaction.

Our arithmetic, labelled as such: R&D growing more than two and a half times as fast as revenue (32% against 12%); inventory at about 2.5 times its year-ago level; the 2.2-point fall in gross margin from the June quarter; Services growth of about 12% in the June quarter; category and segment growth rates (iPhone about 17% from a year earlier and 6% from June, Mac 24%, iPad −10%, Wearables −8%, Services 10%, Greater China 21%, Rest of Asia Pacific 15%, Europe 12%, Americas 10%, Japan −1%); iPhone’s 50% share of revenue (48% a year earlier); gross margin of about 47.2% a year earlier and the refund-adjusted margins of about 46.9% and 48.1% (reported margin less the release’s approximate refund impact); Products gross margins of 37.2%, 40.1% and 36.2% and Services gross margins of 76.0%, 75.6% and 75.3%; R&D growth of 32% and R&D at 10.2% and 8.7% of revenue; SG&A growth of 6%; operating expense growth of 21%; operating income growth of 10% and operating margins of 31.1% and 31.6%; net income growth of 12%; tax rates of 15.0% and 16.3%; the 1.6% fall in diluted shares; fourth-quarter operating cash flow of about $28.1 billion and $29.7 billion (fiscal-year less nine-month figures); fourth-quarter buybacks of about $24.3 billion and dividends of about $3.9 billion (the same method); and cash and marketable securities of $136.9 billion, debt of $80.1 billion and net cash of $56.8 billion. These are approximations, not reported numbers. The 12%, 14% and fiscal-year growth rates are as printed in the release and the 10-K. The interpretation (that the margin and cost lines, rather than revenue, define the quarter) is our analysis, not a company statement or a forecast.

Related: Apple Q3 FY2026, the prior quarter; Alphabet Q3 2026, Meta Q2 2026, Microsoft Q4 FY2026 and Amazon Q2 2026, the other big tech companies we cover.