“I am proud to say that we just had a quarter for the record books,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during Thursday’s earnings call, before rattling off numbers that surprised Wall Street analysts — in a good way.
The highly successful quarter was also one for the stat geeks. Apple racked up several all-time highs during the quarter (technically Apple’s Q1 2026). From overall revenue (a new all-time high!) to customer satisfaction ratings (through the roof!), the numbers Apple put up during the 2026 holiday quarter will blow your mind.
Apple Q1 2026 earnings by the numbers
It’s easy to think of Apple as a great company that makes your favorite devices. But to Wall Street, Apple is an unstoppable money-printing machine. The amount of money Cupertino generates every quarter is astonishing.
That cash flow stems from the number of devices Apple sells each quarter (very many of them), but also from the number of devices currently in use by (very satisfied) Apple customers who subscribe to (very lucrative) Apple services.
AAPL share prices rose after Thursday’s earnings call — which, surprisingly, doesn’t always happen, even though Apple consistently rakes in gob-smacking amounts of revenue.
Here’s a look at Apple’s most recent quarter by the numbers, divvied up by category.
Apple revenue
$143.8 billion: Total revenue generated during Apple’s best quarter ever. That’s up 16% year-over-year, meaning Apple added approximately $20 billion in revenue versus last year. That total surpassed both Apple’s internal expectations and Wall Street analysts’ predictions.
$42.1 billion: Apple’s net income for the quarter after all costs — another all-time record.
$2.84: Diluted earnings per share, up 19% year-over-year. Apple’s profit is growing even faster than its revenue!
$53.9 billion: Apple’s operating cash flow, i.e. cash generated from the company’s core business in a single quarter.
iPhone
Photo: Apple
$85.3 billion: Total iPhone revenue for the quarter, another all-time high. iPhone sales soared 23% year-over-year, far outpacing Apple’s overall growth, and making up approximately 59% of the company’s total revenue.
99%: iPhone’s overall satisfaction rating for U.S. customers, as measured by 451 Research.
Mac
$8.4 billion: Total Mac revenue, one of the few rough spots for Apple. Mac sales fell 7% year-over-year. Apple blamed a tough comparison to the previous year’s strong product launches.
Nearly 50%: Percentage of Mac buyers last quarter who were first-timers.
97%: Mac’s overall satisfaction rating for U.S. customers.
iPad
$8.6 billion: Total iPad revenue, up 6% year-over-year on the strength of M5 iPad Pro and A16 iPad sales.
More than 50%: Percentage of iPad buyers acquiring their first Apple tablet.
98%: iPad’s overall satisfaction rating for U.S. customers, according to 451 Research.
Wearables, home and accessories
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
$11.5 billion: Total revenue for Apple’s wearables, home and accessories division. That’s down 2% year-over-year. Apple laid this one at the feet of AirPods Pro 3 supply constraints, not weak demand.
Greater than 50%: Percentage of Apple Watch buyers strapping on an Apple smartwatch for the first time.
96%: Apple Watch U.S. customer satisfaction rate.
Apple services
Image: Apple
$30 billion: Apple’s services revenue, up 14% year-over-year and yet another all-time high.
Approximately 21%: Percentage of Apple’s total revenue driven by services.
14%: Growth rate of Apple services revenue, which continues to outpace hardware growth — and is a key driver of Apple’s incredibly high margins.
36%: Apple TV viewership growth (year-over-year for December).
More than 650: Number of wins for Apple TV productions in entertainment industry awards (out of more than 3,200 nominations.
850 million: Number of weekly App Store users (on average), providing Apple with a massive audience for monetization via ads, subscriptions and in-app payments.
$550 billion: Total amount of developer earnings since the App Store launched in 2008.
Apple’s installed user base and their AI use
2.5-plus billion: Number of active Apple devices, another new all-time record. This mind-boggling number forms a massive foundation for Apple’s services growth, AI features and monetization.
38%: Apple’s revenue growth in Greater China, making it one of the company’s fastest-growing regions last quarter. Apple said strong demand for iPhone 17 primarily drove the growth in the country.
15: Number of languages supported by Apple Intelligence.
Greater than 50%: Percentage of iPhone owners using Apple Intelligence. Apple said a majority of people use its suite of AI services, suggesting fast adoption. Cook also committed to keeping Apple’s AI “personal and private.”
Apple’s Q1 2026 margins and expenses
Photo: Cult of Mac
48.2%: Apple’s gross margin, one of the highest in the company’s history. This came in above Apple’s guidance, up 100 basis points sequentially.
40.7%: Gross margin for Apple products, up 450 basis points sequentially. Apple cited “favorable iPhone mix.”
76.5%: Gross margin for Apple services, up 120 basis points sequentially, and an extremely profitable source of recurring revenue for the company.
$18.4 billion: Apple’s operating expenses, up 19% year-over-year. Apple said investments in AI and in research and development drove these costs higher.
Apple’s capital allocation and balance sheet
$145 billion: Apple’s cash and marketable securities, showing the company’s massive financial flexibility.
$91 billion: Apple’s total debt.
$54 billion: Apple’s net cash on hand.
$32 billion: Amount of capital Apple returned to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.
$25 billion: Amount of Apple’s share repurchases. (Apple retired 93 million shares, boosting earnings per share and shareholder value.)
$3.9 billion: Amount of dividends paid by Apple directly to shareholders.
26 cents: Apple’s quarterly dividend per share, payable February 12, 2026.
Apple’s guidance for next quarter
13% to 16%: Apple’s expected revenue growth for the March quarter (Q2), a strong outlook despite ongoing supply constraints.
48% to 49%: Apple’s expected gross margin for Q2 2026, suggesting confidence in continuing the company’s astonishing profitability.
$18.4 billion to $18.7 billion: Apple’s expected operating expenses for Q2 2026, driven by elevated AI and R&D spending.
Approximately $100 million: Apple’s predicted Other Income and Expense (OI&E) line item for next quarter.
Approximately 17.5%: Apple’s expected tax rate, which falls in line with historical norms.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
