The corks may have popped in California on Thursday evening: Apple achieved a record quarter for the second time in a row – and this time it was particularly strong. Sales in Apple’s second fiscal quarter, from December 28, 2025 to March 28, 2026, rose 17 percent compared to the same quarter last year to 111.2 billion US dollars. Apple’s operating profit rose 21 percent to $35.9 billion.
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The profit per diluted share rose by 22 percent to $2.01. After deducting the 38 percent increase in taxes, Apple is left with a net $29.6 billion. It was the “best March quarter ever,” said CEO Tim Cook, who is leaving in September. Apple recorded particularly high demand for the iPhone 17 lineup, but the services business has never been so good (almost 31 billion, plus 16 percent).
Record operating cash flow too
New products such as the iPhone 17e, the new MacBook Pros with M5 Max and M5 Pro and the MacBook Neo, Apple’s cheapest notebook to date, also helped with the sales and profit record. According to CFO Kevan Parekh, Apple generated a total of $28 billion in operating cash flow in the March quarter, more than in any previous March quarter.
There was also a new high for the installed base. Apple will pay a dividend of $0.27 per share, an increase of four percent (for all shareholders who hold shares until May 11). According to Parekh, Apple also wants to spend a total of $100 billion on share buybacks.
According to Apple’s preliminary figures, the entire iPhone business reached $56.9 billion (same quarter last year: $46.8 billion). The Mac went up to 8.3 billion (from 7.9 billion), the iPad from 6.4 to 6.9 billion. The wearables, home and accessories division also grew slightly again by around $400 million. In the services division it went up from 26.64 to 30.9 billion. The outlook for the coming quarter is positive: Apple expects sales growth of between 14 and 17 percent with a margin of between 47.5 and 48.5 percent. However, the RAM and NAND supply crisis, which is AI-driven, is problematic.
RAM crisis, tariffs and an appearance by Ternus
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The company expects that both Mac mini and Mac Studio will only be available to a limited extent in the coming months. The reason is higher demand than expected. The company cannot have enough Apple silicon chips produced; there are waiting times, Cook revealed. When it comes to US tariffs, where the company had set aside billions in recent quarters, Apple now expects repayments following a decision by the Supreme Court. Apple will put the money into US production, emphasized Cook. These are “new investments, in addition to our previous commitments”.
In addition to Cook and Parekh, the new CEO (and current head of hardware engineering) John Ternus, who will be in office from September, also appeared at the investor discussion on the quarterly figures. In a short statement, he emphasized that Apple has an “incredible roadmap” of new products. It was the most exciting time in his 25-year career at Apple. The group has “so many opportunities” and it “couldn’t be more optimistic about what’s to come.” He thanked Cook for his trust and called him “one of the greatest business leaders of all time.” It is an “incredible honor to take on the role of CEO.”
(bsc)
