Apple’s quarterly earnings day has arrived, and with it, we learn how the company performed during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2020. We continue to get a closer look at how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Apple’s business, with a specific focus on the iPhone, or lack thereof, this time around.
For the fourth fiscal quarter of 2020, Apple has announced revenue of $64.7 billion with $12.67 billion in profit. This compares to revenue of $64 billion and profit of $13.69 billion in the same quarter last year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook had the following to say about Apple’s performance in Q4 2020:
“Apple capped off a fiscal year defined by innovation in the face of adversity with a September quarter record, led by all-time records for Mac and Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, Apple is in the midst of our most prolific product introduction period ever, and the early response to all our new products, led by our first 5G-enabled iPhone lineup, has been tremendously positive. From remote learning to the home office, Apple products have been a window to the world for users as the pandemic continues, and our teams have met the needs of this moment with creativity, passion, and the kinds of big ideas that only Apple can deliver.”
And CFO Luca Maestri added:
“Our outstanding September quarter performance concludes a remarkable fiscal year, where we established new all-time records for revenue, earnings per share, and free cash flow, in spite of an extremely volatile and challenging macro environment,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Our sales results and the unmatched loyalty of our customers drove our active installed base of devices to an all-time high in all of our major product categories. We also returned nearly $22 billion to shareholders during the quarter, as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”
Going into today’s earnings release, analysts were widely optimistic about AAPL Q4 2020 earnings, despite the fact that Apple didn’t release any new flagship iPhones during the quarter. Analyst estimates had ranged from a low of $52.55B to a high of $70.55B, with an average of $64.16B, marginally up on last year’s $64.04B.
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro were not available until October 16, well after the end of Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter. Furthermore, the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max won’t be available until November 6. This means the entire iPhone 12 launch season will be factored into Apple’s fiscal Q1 2021 earnings release in January, alongside the normal holiday shopping season.
On the flip side, Apple’s Q4 2020 earnings do include the Apple Watch Series 6 alongside the 8th generation iPad and the 2020 iMac.
Apple is not providing any guidance for Q1 2021 due to the continued uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. Apple has also announced that its Apple One services bundle will launch tomorrow and Fitness+ will launch later this quarter.
AAPL stock is down around 5% during after-hours trading. The folks over at Six Colors have some additional charts to visualize Apple’s numbers.
AAPL Q4 2020 earnings by product
Apple does not report unit sales for any of its hardware products. Instead, it reports a breakdown of revenue by product category. Here are those numbers for fiscal Q4 2020:
- $26.44 billion: iPhone (down from $33.36 billion in Q4 2019)
- $14.55 billion: Services (up from $12.5 billion in Q4 2019)
- $9.03 billion: Mac (up from $6.99 billion in Q4 2019)
- $7.88 billion: Wearables, Home, and Accessories (up from $6.52 billion in Q4 2019)
- $6.79 billion: iPad (up from $4.66 billion in Q4 2019)
Read the full report on Apple Newsroom and stay tuned to 9to5Mac for more coverage from the AAPL earnings call with Tim Cook and Luca Maestri next. You can listen live to the AAPL Q4 2020 earnings call audio streaming at the top of the hour here, or listen back shortly after the call with Apple Podcasts.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments