Apple is anticipated to address concerns about the delayed launch of major AI features and the effects of the U.S.-China tariff dispute on its operations during its Thursday earnings report.
Reuters:
Even as Apple benefited from a rush of orders for its recently launched lower-priced iPhone 16e in the January-March period ahead of potential tariffs, Wall Street analysts still expect the company will report a small fall in iPhone sales. That would mark a second straight quarter of declines.
“Tariffs are a sword of Damocles for Apple – dangling, disruptive and politically charged,” said Eric Schiffer, chairman of Patriarch Organization, a California-based private equity firm that holds Apple shares.
Unlike rivals such as Samsung and Alphabet’s Google, Apple has also been slow to roll out some important AI features it promised last year at its developer conference.
Improvements to voice assistant Siri, a common ask from users and investors, have been delayed to 2026, and Apple pulled a commercial that promoted AI functionalities that were not yet available.
MacDailyNews Take: Reuters buries the lede, concluding with, “Overall, Apple’s revenue is expected to rise 4.2% in the January-March period, its fiscal second quarter, roughly matching the pace in the first quarter. Growth will likely be driven by upbeat iPad demand and growth in the services business. iPad sales are expected to rise 9.1% in the second quarter, while the services business, Apple’s biggest revenue generator after the iPhone, will likely grow 11.8%.”
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Remember, with the US dollar down so much against its peers, foreign sales are worth more to Apple’s revenue. (And worry over tariffs will have accelerated some Apple device sales.)
Trashing the economy might pay immediate-term dividends for this quarter.
Wall Street wants to take Apple down, so it’s a done deal. They must be sick of seeing Apple having the highest market cap when there are all those wonderful A.I.-focused companies spending billions of dollars on A.I. datacenters and firing as many employees as possible. I think it’s rather foolish to be firing employees and being rewarded for it. In this economy, if people don’t have jobs, will they be able to afford to pay for subscription A.I. services that those datacenters are supposed to provide. Why am I the only one to think that A.I. should be put below human intelligence?
I’ll be satisfied if Apple can just hold its current share price. I’m not expecting miracles. Everyone seems deadly frightened of the tariffs, and Apple is said to have the worst exposure to China. Quite a few analysts say Apple can’t possibly have a decent solution for leaving China behind. India purportedly won’t be of much help. Oh, well. Even if Apple stock falls, I won’t be affected as it won’t change my passive income from Apple. When Apple announces a dividend increase this year, that will be good for me. I’m confident Apple will be able to somewhat resolve the tariff problems in the long-term, and that’s what matters most to me.