Apple's results were eagerly awaited to give the markets a sense of direction after the second half of July, which was complicated by financial doubts. Indeed, consumption is no longer very vigorous, China can't see the end of the tunnel, trade and political tensions are at a critical point and AI is not yet bringing benefits to everyone.

Unfortunately, Apple has not worked miracles. The Cupertino-based group has exceeded analysts' expectations - albeit very low ones - but that's not enough to boost the share price of a company that already pays more than 30 times earnings, however technological it may be.

In the meantime, despite average figures and a reversal of fortunes, Apple is relying on the future contributions of AI. Indeed, the earnings release highlights the Group's progress in this area right from the start, with this statement from CEO Tim Cook: "During the quarter, we were delighted to announce incredible updates to our software platforms at our Worldwide Developers Conference. This includes Apple Intelligence, a revolutionary personal intelligence system that places powerful private generative AI models at the heart of the iPhone, iPad and Mac. We look forward to sharing these tools with our users, and continue to invest significantly in innovations that will enrich our customers' lives, while emphasizing the values that drive our work. "

It should be remembered, however, that Apple plans to partner with external suppliers such as OpenAI to integrate certain capabilities, a sign that the group is lagging behind on this technology. For the time being, Apple is unable to release its in-house tools, as it so much enjoys doing in general.

Key figures for the quarter

  • Sales: $85.77 billion, including $61.56 billion for the Products segment (iPhone, Mac, iPad, watches and accessories) and $24.21 billion for Services (advertising, AppleCare, Cloud, digital content and payment tools). In Q3 2023, sales were $81.79 billion.
  • Operating income: $25.35 bn vs. $22.99 bn in Q3 2023.
  • Earnings per share: $1.4 versus $1.27 for the same period last year.
  • 29 bn operating cash flow and $32 bn returned to shareholders

Sales rose in all geographic zones except China (-6.5%). As in the case of luxury goods publications, the Chinese have clearly reduced their spending. Apple is also facing stiff competition in the smartphone market, with Chinese manufacturers, notably Huawei, gaining ground. China is a significant country for Apple, accounting for 17.2% of sales.

In terms of sales by segment, Apple saw a decline in iPhone sales for the second consecutive quarter (-1% to $39.29 billion), as well as in sales of connected objects such as the Apple Watch and Airpods earphones (-2.3% to $8.09 billion). Growth was driven by iPad tablets (+23.7% to $7.16 bn), services (+14.1% to $24.21 bn) and, to a lesser extent, Mac computers (+2.5% to $7 bn).