Wire reporting: (AP, via Toledo Blade), (Reuters, via CNA)

Apple Inc. reported stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results on Monday in CEO John Ternus's first earnings release, then told investors that rising memory-chip costs would keep pressing gross margins into the holiday quarter and beyond^2,7,8.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 26 was $114.5 billion, up 12% from a year earlier, with iPhone sales of $57.58 billion, up 17%, and Services at a record $31.57 billion^8,11. Diluted earnings per share were $2.10, including a $0.05 benefit from tariff refunds after a U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs^8,11.

Gross margin was 47.9% in the September quarter, including about one percentage point from those refunds^2,7,8. For the December quarter, Apple forecast gross margin of 45% to 46%, below a 46.3% average estimate compiled by LSEG, CNBC reported².

CFO Kevan Parekh said the outlook included higher memory costs and some expenses tied to ramping Siri AI^2,11. Ternus told analysts that memory pricing is unprecedented and that purchase prices were already higher than earlier in the year^2,7.

"Looking beyond the December quarter, we see the pricing for memory purchases continuing to increase," Ternus said, according to CNBC².

Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads at the end of June and on iPhones in September, which the company said would only partly offset the memory squeeze^2,7,11. COO Sabih Khan, who appeared on the call, said manufacturing purchase obligations rose $33 billion from the June quarter to September as Apple sought more supply^2,7.

Inventory climbed to $14.54 billion from $11.09 billion in the prior quarter and $5.72 billion a year earlier, TechCrunch reported⁷. Management said Mac and iPad supply would remain tight because of memory, and iPad revenue of about $6.2 billion missed estimates and fell 10% year over year^7,11.

Mac revenue rose 24% to $10.79 billion, and Ternus said Apple had never sold more Macs in a fiscal year, citing IDC share figures^2,11. Wearables revenue fell 8% to $8.3 billion¹¹. Greater China revenue grew 21% to $17.54 billion, a quarterly record that still missed some estimates, Times of India reported¹¹.

Apple guided December-quarter revenue up 7% to 10% and services growth of 8% to 9%, below some analyst expectations¹¹. Shares fell after the report. CNBC said Apple shares slid about 2% on Tuesday². CNA, carrying Reuters, cited about 4% in Tuesday premarket⁶. Techmeme, citing Bloomberg, said AAPL fell more than 3%⁴. Local 10 and KSN carried AP copy that Apple lagged while other large technology stocks rose^12,13.

The company attributed the memory squeeze to AI-related demand for RAM that has tightened supply for phones and PCs². What remains unclear is how long the shortage lasts, whether Apple will raise device prices again, and when foldable iPhone Duo supply, discussed on the call but not in the September numbers, will match demand¹¹.