Apple managed to boost both its sales and profitduring a
summertime quarter that depressed the fortunes of most other major
tech companies, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the iPhone maker
will be immune to a potential recession.
Even though Apple fared reasonably well, the July-September results
signaled that the world’s most valuable company is facing some of
the same economic headwinds that hammered the profits of Microsoft
and the corporate parents of both Google and Facebook.
Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter revenue rose 8 percent from the same
time last year to $90.1 billion. That was an improvement from the
scant 2 percent uptick in revenue during its April-June quarter
when supply problems caused by pandemic-related factory shutdowns
dinged its sales.
The Cupertino, California, company’s profit for the most recent
quarter totaled $20.72 billion, up by less than 1 percent from the
same time last year.
On the downside, sales of Apple’s most popular product, the iPhone,
and another big moneymaker, and the services division, were both
lower than analysts had been anticipating, a sign consumers may be
cutting back amid the highest inflation in 40 years.
Apple’s stock has dropped almost 20% so far in 2022.