On January 29, 2026, local time, Apple Inc. filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, officially releasing its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ended December 27, 2025). The company's core financial metrics all reached historic highs this quarter, with the following specific data: total revenue of $143.756 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase; net profit of $42.097 billion, up 15.9% year-over-year; and diluted earnings per share of $2.84, an 18.3% increase year-over-year. All three key metrics significantly exceeded market expectations. Following the earnings release, Apple's stock rose more than 3% in after-hours trading. Apple's consolidated gross margin for the quarter reached 48.2%, an improvement of 1.3 percentage points compared to 46.9% in the same period last year. Research and development expenses amounted to $10.887 billion, a 31.7% year-over-year increase, providing support for technological R&D and product innovation. Operating cash flow performance was strong, with cash flow from operating activities reaching $53.925 billion for the quarter, a substantial 79.9% increase year-over-year. This robust cash flow supports shareholder returns; the company spent $24.701 billion on share repurchases and paid $3.921 billion in dividends during the quarter, returning nearly $32 billion to shareholders in total. Furthermore, Apple's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.26 per share, with a payment date of February 12, 2026, and a record date of February 9. As of December 27, 2025, Apple's cash and cash equivalents stood at $45.317 billion, a 26.1% increase from the previous fiscal quarter; total liabilities were $291.107 billion, resulting in an asset-liability ratio of 76.8%, indicating a stable financial position. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $2.373 billion, a 19.3% decrease year-over-year.
The iPhone served as the core growth engine this quarter, with its revenue accounting for 59.3% of total revenue, and sales reached record levels across all geographic regions. Services revenue surpassed the $30 billion mark for the first time, with costs of only $7.047 billion, yielding a remarkably high gross margin of 76.5%, far exceeding the 39.4% gross margin of the hardware business. The number of active Apple devices globally has now exceeded 2.5 billion. Mac revenue declined year-over-year, primarily because the new MacBook Pro models featuring the M4 chip, launched in November 2025, had a shorter sales cycle that could not fully contribute to revenue. The iPad business bucked the trend with growth; half of the consumers who purchased an iPad this quarter were first-time buyers. Revenue from Wearables, Home and Accessories and other businesses saw a slight decline, impacted by intensified market competition and production bottlenecks for the Vision Pro.
Greater China led global growth in revenue, driven primarily by strong sales of the iPhone 17 series, alongside optimized channel strategies in mainland China such as increased trade-in subsidies and the introduction of localized features. The Asia-Pacific region (excluding Greater China) achieved a growth rate of 17.9%, becoming the second-largest growth engine after Greater China.
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