Tim Cook arrives at Sun Valley’s Allen & Company meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Apple is expected to post its third consecutive quarterly revenue decline when it reports earnings after the bell Thursday. Wall Street expects $81.7 billion in sales, which would be down about 2.3% from last year.
Apple’s stock is up over 51% so far in 2023, hitting all-time highs. Investors see it as a safe haven with strong cash flow, despite worries about slowing demand for consumer goods, including PCs and smartphones.
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Analysts will also want to hear about how the current quarter, which ends in September, is shaking out. Apple hasn’t given guidance since 2020, citing uncertainty, but it provides investors with some data points that they can use to determine whether Apple sees overall sales growing or shrinking.
The company’s forecast will be more important. It may give clues as to whether global economies are set up for a “soft landing” after two years of interest rate hikes.
The June period is typically Apple’s slowest quarter of the year, while its fourth fiscal quarter often captures back-to-school laptop spending, a few days of new iPhone model sales — which usually come out in September — and shows Apple’s momentum heading into the holiday season.
“What will matter most will be management’s September quarter,” wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring in July, adding that he expects Apple to guide to year-over-year revenue growth again.
Emerging markets and China
Some analysts are eager to see Apple give data points on India sales. Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to the country in April and spoke about hopes for significant growth in the region. India became one of Apple’s top five iPhone markets during the quarter, according to analyst estimates.
“On the call, we look for additional details on its expansion in India, including its retail and manufacturing presence,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte wrote this week.
But Apple’s older growth driver, China, is likely to be closely watched as well. Greater China — including Hong Kong and Taiwan — is Apple’s third-largest sales region, and it has reported two straight quarters of revenue decline, even as the region reopened after years of strict Covid lockdowns.
“In our conversations, most investors feel that a soft China could pose a risk to the numbers and further commentary, but we feel that Apple’s position in China is on a solid footing and that the company is likely to see only a small if any decline in its iPhone sales,” wrote Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar.
Kumar said if China ends up being weak, it could be offset by strong sales momentum in India.
Apple mainly manufactures in China and investors will want to hear that the company has overcome many of the supply chain snags that have hampered sales over the past two years. If Apple stockpiled parts and has enough to make what it needs to produce, it could help margins, analysts say.
Services growth and A.I. acceleration
Apple’s profitable services division includes monthly subscriptions such as Apple Music, warranties under AppleCare, fees from the App Store, advertising revenue from search licensing agreements with Google, payments from Apple Pay and other products.
Wall Street likes to see Apple’s services business grow regularly and smoothly, because the margins on services are so much higher than when Apple sells hardware. In particular, many analysts want to see services reaccelerate after a few quarters of weak growth because of lagging App Store software sales.
Apple suggested a 5% year-over-year increase in services, and FactSet’s estimates more than $20.7 billion in revenue. But analysts will want to see Apple signal more growth than that.
“For the Services business, we expect year-over-year revenue growth to accelerate from the +5% level expected in [fiscal third quarter,] with our checks suggesting online advertising has improved,” Deutsche Bank analyst Sidney Ho wrote.
Analysts will also likely ask about artificial intelligence, given the industrywide obsession with the technology and a recent Bloomberg report that Apple is developing a ChatGPT-like AI model internally. Don’t expect Apple to gush about what it’s working on internally, though.
“With the official intro of Vision Pro, we expect Apple’s updated comments on its AI aspirations to be a focus (albeit likely very high-level),” wrote Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers.
Estimates
Apple reports its results by product line, which can give investors a look into which businesses are thriving and which ones are in a down cycle.
IPhone, iPad and Mac sales are all expected to be down on an annual basis, with iPad sales projected to drop nearly 11%, according to FactSet estimates. Wearables, the product category with headphones and Apple Watch — and what will likely be the reporting category for Vision Pro when it goes on sale — is projected to decline less than 1%.
However, analysts expect Apple’s services business to grow 5.2% on an annual basis, which would be a bright spot for the report.
Here’s what Wall Street is expecting, per FactSet estimates:
Revenue: $81.7 billion
EPS: $1.19 per share
Here’s what to expect from the company’s product lines, per FactSet estimates:
Technology stocks bounced Tuesday after three rocky trading sessions, spurred by rising optimism that President Donald Trump could potentially negotiate tariff deals with world leaders.
The sector is coming off a wild trading session after speculation that the White House could potentially delay tariffs fueled volatile swings. Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Nvidia finished higher, while Apple, Microsoft and Tesla posted losses.
Trump’s wide-sweeping tariff plans have sparked violent turbulence over the last three trading sessions. Trading volume on Monday hit its highest in nearly two decades. Technology stocks gyrated after the Nasdaq Composite posted its worst week in five years and the Magnificent Seven group lost $1.8 trillion in market value over two trading sessions.
Chipmakers were excluded from the recent tariffs, but have come under pressure on worries that higher duties could diminish demand for products they are used in and slow the economy. The sector is also expected to see tariffs further down the road.
Elsewhere, Broadcom surged 9% after announcing a $10 billion share buyback plan through the end of the year. Marvell Technology also bounced more than 9% after agreeing to sell its auto ethernet business for $2.5 billion in cash to Infineon Technologies.
Glen Tullman, chairman and chief executive officer at Livongo Health Inc., speaks during the 2015 Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 16, 2015.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Digital health startup Transcarent on Tuesday announced it completed its acquisition of Accolade in a deal valued at roughly $621 million.
Transcarent first announced the acquisition in January, and the company said it has received all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals to carry out the transaction. Accolade shareholders received $7.03 per share in cash, and its common stock will no longer trade on the Nasdaq, according to a release.
“Adding Accolade’s people and capabilities will significantly enhance our existing offerings,” Transcarent CEO Glen Tullman said in a statement. “We’re creating anentirely new way to experience health and care. We are truly better together.”
Transcarent offers at-risk pricing models to self-insured employers to help their workers quickly access care and navigate benefits. As of May, the company had raised around $450 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion. Transcarent also earned a spot on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list last year.
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Accolade offers care delivery, navigation and advocacy services. The company went public during the Covid pandemic in 2020 as investors began pouring billions of dollars into digital health, but the stock tumbled in the years following.
Accolade is the latest in a string of digital health companies to exit the public markets as the sector struggles to adjust to a more muted growth environment.
Transcarent said the executive leadership team will report to Tullman and includes representatives from both organizations. Accolade’s Kristen Bruzek will serve as executive vice president of care delivery operations, for instance.
Tullman is no stranger to overseeing major deals in digital health. He previously helmed Livongo, which was acquired by the virtual-care provider Teladoc in a 2020 agreement that valued the company at $18.5 billion.
General Catalyst and Tullman’s 62 Ventures led the acquisition’s financing, with additional participation from new and existing investors, the release said. The companies also leveraged cash from their combined balance sheet, and JP Morgan led the debt financing.
A drone operator loads a Walmart package into Zipline’s P1 fixed-wing drone for delivery to a customer home in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 30, 2023.
Bunee Tomlinson
Zipline, a startup that delivers everything from vaccines to ice cream via electric autonomous drones, expanded its service to the Dallas area on Tuesday through a partnership with Walmart.
In Mesquite, Texas, about 15 miles east of Dallas, Walmart customers can sign up to receive orders within 30 minutes, delivered on Zipline’s newest unmanned aerial vehicles, known as P2 Zips.
The drones are capable of carrying up to eight pounds worth of cargo within a 10-mile radius, and can land a package on a space as small as a table or doorstep. The company, which ranked 21st on CNBC’s 2024 Disruptor 50 list, plans to expand soon in the Dallas metropolitan area.
Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said P2 Zips have “dinner plate-level” accuracy. They employ lift and cruise propellers and feature a fixed wing that helps them maneuver quietly, even through rain or gusts of wind up to 45 miles per hour.
In the delivery process, a P2 Zip will hover around 300 feet above ground level and dispatch a mini-aircraft with a container called the delivery zip, which descends on a long tether and moves into place using fan-like thrusters before setting down and allowing package retrieval.
Both the P2 Zip and the delivery zip use cameras, other sensors and Nvidia chips to determine what’s happening in the environment around them, and to avoid obstacles while making a delivery.
In March 2025, Zipline announced that its drones have logged more than 100 million autonomous miles of flight to-date, a number equivalent to flying more than 4,000 loops around the planet, or 200 lunar round trips, the company said in a video to mark the milestone.
Since it began operations in 2016, Rinaudo Cliffton said, Zipline has completed around 1.5 million deliveries, far more than competitors in the West. Wing, a Zipline rival focused on residential deliveries, has reported more than 450,000 deliveries since 2012.
Zipline initially focused on logistics in health care, making deliveries by drone to clinics and hospitals in nations where infrastructure sometimes impeded timely access to life-saving medicines, blood, vaccines and personal protective equipment. The company, valued at $4.2 billion in a 2023 financing round, is now making deliveries in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Japan and the U.S., and expanded well beyond hospitals and clinics.
In addition to Walmart, customers include Sweetgreen, Chipotle and other quick-serve restaurants, as well as health clinics and hospital systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic.
Zipline’s launch in Mesquite comes days after President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs roiled markets on concern that companies would face rising costs and a slowdown in consumers spending. Rinaudo Cliffton said he doesn’t anticipate massive impediments to Zipline’s business, as its drones are built in the U.S., with manufacturing and testing in South San Francisco.