MacDailyNews presents live notes from Apple’s Q126 conference call

MacDailyNews presents live notes from Apple’s Q126 Conference Call with analysts starting at 2pm PT / 5pm ET today, January 29, 2026.

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Apple’s live conference call webcast will begin at 2pm PT / 5pm ET here.

Apple today posted record first quarter revenue of $143.8 billion, up a whopping 16% year over year, and quarterly diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.84, up a staggering 19% year over year.

According to LSEG consensus estimates compiled from Wall Street analysts called for Apple to post revenue of $138.48 billion and EPS of $2.67.

Live notes in reverse chronological order:

• AAPL After-hours: $261.80, +3.52, (+1.36%) @ 5:59:16 PM EST

• End of conference call.

• Parekh: Won’t provide that information
• Q: How much of install base is AI-capable

• Cook: It’s difficult to estimate capacity and Appel has or is in the process of putting in capacity for clod-based AI
• Cook: We believe privacy is a differentiator
• Cook: We see both being important
• Q: How might Apple manage AI; on-device vs. cloud based AI?

• Cook: It’s an incredible game-changer and competitive advantage for Apple
• Q: Apple Silicon affect gross margins positively?

• Cook: We still have modest share, so there is a huge opportunity for Apple in India
• Cook: We set a quarterly revenue record during Q1 in India in iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Services
• Q: India iPhone demand?

• Cook: I don’t want to estimate when supply and demand will balance at this point
• Cook: It’s difficult to estimate when supply constrained
• Q: Supply constraints with foundry? How long will this last?

• Cook: I think each iPhone cycle has its own unique characteristics; iPhone 17 has done extremely well
• Q: iPhone 17 upgrade like the iPhone 12 cycle?

• Cook: If you look at Mac, like iPhone, we also believe we gained share in Q1; we feel very good about out position
• Q: Access to memory?

• Cook: Think of it as a collaboration between Apple and Google; the personalized version of Siri is an Apple-Google collaboration
• Q: Google Gemini integration to Apple Foundation Model?

• Parekh: U.S. import tariff impact was roughly $1.4 billion in Q1
• Parekh: We had favorable mix in Q1
• Q: Gross margin changes of iPhone 16 vs. iPhone 17?

• In general, there will be ebbs and flows in CapEx
• Parekh: We won’t provide details on Google deal. CapEx is made of several different line items
• Q: Capital investment; does Google Gemini impact that?

• Cook: I wouldn’t want to speculate on that one.
• Q: Will Apple use the pricing lever to deal with memory component cost increases?

• Parekh: Q1 set a quarterly record for App Store; Services saw broad based growth across all categories
• Q: Services seeing App Store growth deceleration?

• Cook: It’s a range; don’t want to get more specific that that; different levels that we can push
• Q: Range of options to deal with memory cost increases?

• In terms of overall smartphone market, we believe that based on the info we have, we gained share in the December quarter
• Cook: Beyond Q2, I don’t want to comment on supply
• Cook: Supply is constrained in Q2 – reflected in the revenue guidance – constraint due to the limits of advanced node capacity for Apple Silicon
• Q: Overall smartphone demand this year?

• Parekh: Q1 was 48.2%, favorable mix dynamics; we feel good about the guid of 48%-49% gross margin for Q2
• Gross margin projection of 48%-49% is shockingly good, how?

• Cook: We’ll continue to maintain privacy and run AI locally on device; we’re not releasing the details of the Google deal
• Cook: We basically determined that Google would provide the best foundation for Apple Foundation Models
• Q: Google partnership, i.e. Gemini LLMs?

• Parekh: We saw really good broad base performance in Services; we continue to add new services opportunities
• Q: New growth opportunities in advertising?

• Parekh: No difficult compares vs. Q225
• Q: 13%-16% Q2 revenue growth YoY; any tough comps?

• Cook: It’s a combination of the design, components, features
• Q: Why such iPhone strength?

• Cook: We are bringing intelligence to more of what people love and are integrating it across the OSes in a personal and private way which opens up a range of opportunities across out products and services
• Q: AI monetization?

• On non-iPhone products in China, the majority are still new to those products
• iPhones were the top 3 smartphones in urban China during Q126
• Cook: Driven by iPhone; best iPhone quarter in history; Apple Store traffic grew by strong double digits in Q126
• Greater China growth?

• Beyond Q2, we do continue to see memory pricing to increase significantly; Appel will look at a range of options to deal with that
• Memory had a minimal impact on Q1; Apple does expect it to be a bit more impact; Gross margins: 48%-49%
• iPhone remains constrained
• Cook: iPhone demand exceeded expectations to a great degree; exited quarter with very lean supply
• Q: Memory component costs?

• The dividend is payable on February 12, 2026, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 9, 2026
• Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.26 per share of the company’s common stock

• March quarter outlook (assumes global tariff srate remain in effect as of this call):
– 13%-16% Q2 revenue growth YoY
– Services growth for Q2 similar to what was reported for Q1
– Gross margins: 48%-49%

• $145B in cash with $91B total debt = net cash $54B

• Enterprise continues to invest in Apple Macs, iPad, and iPhones

• Apple’s huge 2.5+ billion install base is a very strong foundation for Services

• AirPods Pro 3 was supply constrained during the quarter

• iPad install base reached an all-time high in Q126
• iPad customer satisfaction: 98%
• Mac customer satisfaction: 97%

• Parekh reiterates:
– Services: $30.013 billion (vs. $26.340 billion YoY)
– Wearables, Home and Accessories: $11.493 billion (vs. $11.747 billion YoY)
– iPad: $8.595 billion (vs. $8.088 billion YoY)
– Mac: $8.386 billion (vs. $8.987 billion YoY)
– iPhone: $85.269 billion (vs. $69.138 billion YoY)

• Reiterates installed base of active devices now more than 2.5 billion active devices
• Apple CFO Kevan Parekh: Revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent from a year ago

• Cooks see much to look forward to in the year to come

• Cook touts various American manufacturing investments by Apple and suppliers
• Apple is especially proud to support American manufacturing, with $600 billion committed over a four-year period
• 2025 was a fantastic year for Services. Apple Music climbed to all-time highs in subscribers and new subscription growth
• Cook touts awards won and noms for Apple TV fare
• Apple TV has seen fantastic growth with 36% December viewership increase YoY

• AAPL After-hours: $261.08, +2.80, (+1.08%) @ 5:09:05 PM EST

• Cook touts Apple Intelligence features and Apple Silicon
• Install base: More than 2.5 billion active devices
• We are seeing very high levels of customer satisfaction
• Customer response to AirPods Pro 3 has been amazing
• Cook promos Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3
• Cook touts Apple Creator Studio

• Services: $30.013 billion (vs. $26.340 billion YoY)
• Wearables, Home and Accessories: $11.493 billion (vs. $11.747 billion YoY)
• iPad: $8.595 billion (vs. $8.088 billion YoY)
• Mac: $8.386 billion (vs. $8.987 billion YoY)
• iPhone: $85.269 billion (vs. $69.138 billion YoY)

• Americas: $58.529 billion (vs. $52.648 billion YoY)
• Europe: $38.146 billion (vs. $33.861 billion YoY)
• Greater China: $25.526 billion (vs. $18.513 billion YoY)
• Japan: $9.413 billion (vs. $8.987 billion YoY)
• Rest of Asia Pacific: $12.142 billion (vs. $10.291 billion YoY)

• $2.84 EPS is also an all-time quarterly record
• We are also excited to announce that our installed base now has more than 2.5 billion active devices, which is a testament to incredible customer satisfaction for the very best products and services in the world.
• iPhone had its best-ever quarter driven by unprecedented demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment, and Services also achieved an all-time revenue record, up 14 percent from a year ago…
• Apple CEO Tim Cook: We just had a quarter for the record books. Today, Apple is proud to report a remarkable, record-breaking quarter, with revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent from a year ago and well above our expectations…

• Conference call begins

• AAPL After-hours: $260.87, +2.59, (+1.00%) @ 4:57:34 PM EST
• AAPL After-hours: $260.69, +2.41, (+0.93%) @ 4:44:04 PM EST