Apple Reports $83.4 Billion in Revenues
- Paul Thurrott
- Oct 29, 2021
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36
Apple reported that it earned a net income of $20.6 billion on revenues of $83.4 billion for the quarter ending September 30. The firm referred to the results as a “September quarter record,” but it fell short of Wall Street expectations.
“This year we launched our most powerful products ever, from M1-powered Macs to an iPhone 13 lineup that is setting a new standard for performance and empowering our customers to create and connect in new ways,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “We are infusing our values into everything we make — moving closer to our 2030 goal of being carbon neutral up and down our supply chain and across the lifecycle of our products, and ever advancing our mission to build a more equitable future.”
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The questionable nature of Apple’s values notwithstanding, the iPhone remains Apple’s largest business. It delivered $38.9 billion in revenues in the quarter, or about 47 percent of all revenues, an incredible gain of 47 percent year-over-year.
Services is Apple’s second-largest business: it delivered $18.3 billion revenues, up 26 percent from the year-ago quarter. Mac had its best-ever quarter, but it only grew by 1.6 percent, to $9.2 billion. Wearables delivered $8.8 billion, an 11 percent gain. And iPad brought up the rear, with $8.3 billion in revenues, a gain of 22 percent.
In its post-earnings conference call, Apple said that its overall revenues would have been $6 billion higher had it not been for the ongoing supply chain issues. Apple’s gross margins are an incredible 42.2 percent.
Conversation 36 comments
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John Craig
Log in to Reply<p>These numbers are staggering. They’re actually too big to quantify. </p><p><br></p><p>Between Microsoft, Samsung, Alphabet, Apple and Amazon, they’ve soaked up over $350 Billion worth of the world’s cash in the last 3 months. </p><p><br></p><p>There was a point in time just a few years ago when I was impressed when these companies showed some growth, but now the numbers are so huge that they’ve stopped being impressive and are kind of scary, in a big brother, we own you, you will never be able to live without us kind of way. </p><p><br></p><p>World domination aside, where does this leave the rest of us, if 5 CEO’s and a handful of board members are harvesting and hoarding almost every penny on the planet? </p><p><br></p><p>Putting any left wing, for the people politics aside, you cannot help but feel that the world is badly imbalanced when just 5 companies are raking in those kinds of numbers. </p><p><br></p><p>It makes literally every other industry on the planet look like a charity shop. </p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>The idea of a flat tax system for both business and personal income has never looked better. </p><p><br></p><p>Figure out the number (5%??) and apply it across the board. Remove every loophole and it would greatly simplify everything. </p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>The problem with relying too heavily on income taxes from corporations is that they tend to be feast/famine as companies when the economy is riding high – you have lots of tax income…. but during recessions companies lose money and the tax money can completely disappear. It is why social programs are better funded by a consistent tax… a VAT would be a better tax (with a tax credit paid monthly to make sure it does not impact low income earners. Not sure how US capital gains taxes work in the US but that can also help diversify taxes (i.e. paid by owners on rise in valuation of company – over the long run it is more stable than income taxes for corporations (income tax by individuals actually are for the most part not income taxes but revenue taxes (gross revenue minus some deductions). Eliminating capital gains on your primary home but not allowing for interest deductions either would probably be fairer than now – where those that have a house have a deduction/credit but those that rent… don’t. I don’t like being overly free about spending but there should be a requirement that you increase spending and auto increases taxes to cover it.</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Capital gains taxes kick in when you sell the asset. So if you have a piece of property and it goes up in value you don’t get taxed on the increase in value until you sell it. It’s the same with stocks because one year it could be up 20% and then the next year it goes down more than you gained last year. The liberals now want to tax what they call unrealized income. That would be a tax on the increase in value of your things even if you still keep them. So if you bought a million dollars worth of stock and it went up half a million during the year you would have to pay taxes on that. Now that’s a really bad policy because you would probably have to sell it to pay the taxes. Then what happens when it goes down in year two. Do you get your money back?</p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>The last article I read they want to add an additional 80,000 employees to the IRS to do more auditing to get more tax money out of people/companies. 80,000 more employees….bloating up the government even more. Will they find enough hidden money through audits to pay for those 80,000 employees??</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>Depends on the focus on the income level, often the IRS picks on easier targets (wins) but the monetary amount is small (i.e. people of lower income who could not fight back as hard)… if they target the audits and those that have money to ‘hide’ or play games… very likely they would find more than enough. </p>
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Jeffsters
Log in to Reply<p>Yes, because the stock and property rich, for example, executives that take $1 in salary, or Amazon Execs where the salary tops out around $175k with stock added on, don’t pay taxes. They, and banks that serve them, have gotten creative with loans that use the property or stock as collateral. In this way the individual never sells their stock and just keeps getting more stock and rinse repeat. They get the benefit of the money without paying taxes. Eventually they sell stock to pay down but only when they can do so advantageously. </p>
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waethorn
Log in to Reply<p>I’m of the opinion that income tax should be abolished and there should only be a wealth tax with zero loopholes. The problem with taxation is that government doesn’t deserve all of the taxes that they get, but a wealth tax would prevent politicians from getting rich off the backs of everyone else. Any other tax on income is theft.</p><p><br></p><p>And lobbying should be a felony.</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>A wealth tax is theft as well. If I put a million dollars in a non interest bearing account and do nothing with it why should I be taxed on that year after year.</p>
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waethorn
Log in to Reply<p>And how do you get millions of dollars in the first place? Millionaires aren’t millionaires without being able to hide their wealth or pay for expensive lawyers to find loopholes around paying taxes. Nancy Pelosi’s wealth comes from her husband who does insider trading for her because he runs an investment brokerage for elites. Her wealth doesn’t come from her comparatively paltry salary.</p><p><br></p><p>Bernie Sanders doesn’t have wealth because he practises what he preaches either.</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Stop looking at just the politicians. Start looking at small business owners. Do you think Bill Gates made it to be a millionaire by hiding from taxes? That doesn’t even make sense. Wealth taxes will also affect farmers and ranchers who own a lot of land that has increased in value over the years.</p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>You have to have enough money to pay for all those expensive services with the risk that they might not return enough savings to make the cost worth it… in other words, they already likely had much more than a million before they started fudging their books.</p>
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Truffles
Log in to Reply<p>The purpose of money is to circulate it. If you can afford to stuff it in your mattress at 0% then you don’t need it and it should be taken away by taxes.</p>
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jason_e
Log in to Reply<p>Do what ?? My wife and I have a net worth close to 2 million. Not by hiring lawyers and/or hiding our wealth. We have worked our a$$es off over the past 30 years, invested our money and live well within our means. We pay our fair share of taxes if not more.</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>That makes too much sense for the politicians to like. Instead, they like to pick winners and losers in the taxing process.</p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>I am in my early 50’s now. As long as I have been able to vote I have heard the call for Flat Tax, or massive tax reform to simplify the process, term limits, tort reform and making lobbying/lobbyist illegal. All fantastic ideas that I am for and many people are. All of it is killed by the people in power every-time it comes up. </p><p><br></p><p>I turned on the TV this am before work, the Today show was on, and there was Biden and Pelosi visiting the Pope. Both of which would not be there and have a lot less wealth if we had term limits. </p>
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pecosbob04
Log in to Reply<p>Both Biden and the Pope are in their first terms and both are term limited.</p><p><br></p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>Yes, the Pope is term limited… by life..</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>That’s just not true though. These companies are massive, but it’s a lot more than just 5 CEO’s and boards getting that money. That supports millions of people through jobs with those actual companies and jobs for other companies that support those companies.</p>
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red.radar
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>History is repeating itself. However instead of <span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 36);">Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and Jp Morgan ruling the world. It’s Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. </span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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Jeffsters
Log in to Reply<p>Just thinking you add Walmart’s $145B last quarter and your at over $500B</p>
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ianbetteridge
Log in to Reply<p>An average, apparently, of a billion dollars revenue <em>a day </em>over the full year. </p><p><br></p>
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Jeffsters
Log in to Reply<p>Interesting number but alone doesn’t mean much. Walmart’s revenue is around $1.5B per day.</p>
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locust_infested_orchard_inc.
Log in to Reply<p>As of now, both Microsoft and Apple are tied for the most valuable company in the World by market capitalisation at $2.432 trillion.</p><p><br></p><p>When the markets open in exactly 2 hours, if $AAPL continue the downward trend from yesterday’s disappointing earnings, and $MSFT rises, Microsoft shall reassume its status as the World’s most valuable company.</p>
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pecosbob04
Log in to Reply<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"Microsoft shall reassume its status as the World’s most valuable company." </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Reassume seems an odd choice of words. Apple attained that position before </span>Microsoft. Also looking back it might be instructive to compare the number of days that Apple held the top spot versus Exxon, Alphabet, and Microsoft over the last ten years. Hint it isn’t really all that close.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">'</span></p>
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pecosbob04
Log in to Reply<p>As of Nov 22, 2021 ‘resume’ is appropriate.</p><p><br></p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>“<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The questionable nature of Apple’s values”</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A statement sorely missing from both of your Google and Amazon earnings blog posts. Apple is angel compared to those two, especially Google. </span></p>
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MoopMeep
Log in to Reply<p>Basically every company. Companies exist to make money. </p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>Very true. It’s how they make it that matters though. </p><p><br></p><p>The vast majority of Google money comes from ad sales made possible by massive data collection.</p><p><br></p><p>Amazon is a tangled mess of market manipulation powers by its sheer size. Crushing out anything small. Not to mention the back and forth lawsuits with Microsoft and defense contracts while the military waits to upgrade systems for years as these two behemoths fight it out. </p><p><br></p><p>Both Google and Amazon use their power and wealth to push political agendas. Especially compared to the more neutral (not totally) Apple and Microsoft. </p><p><br></p><p>Apple make expensive products that apparently are popular. Their App Store policies may and should be questioned and whatever outcomes come from it should be applied to all digital stores to include gaming consoles. I personally prefer a walled garden on my Xbox and Apple devices for many reasons. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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Brett Allen
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Tim Cook said "…<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We are infusing our values into everything we make…</span>". Please read the statements that accompanied the earnings reports from Alphabet and Amazon and tell me where they brought up their "values". Not saying their values are stellar, we all know better. But Apple puts these statements out there as if they are indeed angels. Again, we know better.</p>
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Donte
Log in to Reply<p>The only issue I have with Apple is if they use API’s for their own apps the other can’t access. Or if they give some big player, like Amazon, Google some special access to those API’s or some great deal/exception to the rules.</p><p><br></p><p>I have no problem with Apple charging 30% or not allowing you to side load apps from other stores or pay for an app through another store. They after all built the products and the store. They have rules and if you as a user do not like them, choose another product. Same for a software developer, if you do not like the app store rules then do not put your apps in their store. Both actions, if followed by enough people will force Apple to change their rules….if they care about making money. I do not think the government should regulate this kind of stuff and allow the free market to choose. I feel the same way about Google’s devices and app store, Microsoft’s and Sony. Let the free market choose their destiny.</p><p><br></p><p>I hear all this stuff about how if developers can side load apps or charge for their app through their payment system the consumer will somehow be better off. Really? 99% of my apps I payed nothing for, how is it going to be better? I think the most expensive app I have was Contact Mover Pro that cost me $4.99.</p><p><br></p><p>I do think for apps that provide subscription services or the ability to buy content outside of the app, that the app should be able to tell you this via a pop-up and take you to a web page. Things like the Kindle App, or Fortnite to buy vbucks or whatever it is called. The user then would buy off of that web page and the content show up in their app, like kindle book. I do this with some games on the Xbox, buy some content or currency from a web page on my computer and it shows up in the game.</p>
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Saarek
Log in to Reply<p>I wonder if the two iPads I’ve got on backorder count in those numbers. Amazon took my money about 3 weeks ago, but I don’t even have a confirmed ship date yet.</p>
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lvthunder
Premium MemberLog in to Reply<p>Yes, that counts as both a positive and a negative for Amazon. A positive on the revenue side and a negative on the debt side because they owe you the products you ordered.</p>
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pecosbob04
Log in to Reply<p>No the qtr in Question ended September 30th, your purchases were made in the current qtr.</p>
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midpacific
Log in to Reply<p>42.2 percent gross margins! Wow. That’s what happens when a new phone triggers automatic buying no matter what the cost. No iPhone owner ever says anything sensible like…"yeah I love the phone but $1300 for a phone!?" That brainwashing out of normal thinking is kind of the scariest thing… especially as it spreads beyond the Apple religion.</p>
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bkkcanuck
Log in to Reply<p>And Microsoft’s is $45+ billion in revenue and a gross profit of $31+billion (net profit of $20+billion). </p>