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Apple’s Q4 Revenue Hit a Record $94.9 Billion—but a $10.2 Billion Tax Charge Cut Profit

By TheFinanceBase Team5 min read

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Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2024 revenue reached a September-quarter record of $94.93 billion, up about 6% from the same quarter a year earlier. But this was not a clean record for earnings: a one-time $10.2 billion tax charge sharply reduced reported net income and GAAP earnings per share.

The quarter ended September 28, 2024, and Apple announced the results on October 31, 2024. The $94.9 billion figure is historical FY2024 data, not Apple’s latest fourth-quarter result; Apple reported $102.5 billion of revenue for Q4 FY2025.

The short version

  • Revenue: $94.930 billion, up from $89.498 billion, a roughly 6.1% increase.
  • GAAP net income: $14.736 billion, down from $22.956 billion.
  • Reported diluted GAAP EPS: $0.97, compared with $1.46 a year earlier.
  • EPS excluding the one-time tax charge: $1.64, which Apple said was up 12% year over year.
  • Main growth contributors: iPhone and Services.
  • Main weak spots: Greater China and Wearables, Home and Accessories.

The most accurate description is therefore: Apple set a revenue record for its September quarter, while a large one-time tax charge depressed reported profit.

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Apple reported record revenue, not record GAAP profit

Apple’s fiscal Q4 is its September quarter. In Q4 FY2024, the company generated $94.930 billion in revenue, compared with $89.498 billion in Q4 FY2023. Apple described the result as a new September-quarter revenue record.

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That record did not extend to net income or reported EPS. GAAP net income fell approximately 36% to $14.736 billion, while diluted GAAP EPS declined to $0.97. The apparent contradiction is explained largely by the unusual tax item recorded during the quarter.

Metric Q4 FY2024 Q4 FY2023 Year-over-year change
Revenue $94.930 billion $89.498 billion Up about 6%
Net income $14.736 billion $22.956 billion Down about 36%
Diluted GAAP EPS $0.97 $1.46 Down
Diluted EPS excluding one-time tax charge $1.64 — Apple said up 12%

Apple’s earnings release and consolidated financial statements provide the underlying figures.

Why profit fell despite higher sales

Apple recorded a one-time income-tax charge of approximately $10.2 billion related to the European General Court’s State Aid decision. Apple’s 2024 Form 10-K says the item primarily involved a $15.8 billion payment to Ireland, partly offset by a $4.8 billion U.S. foreign-tax credit and a reduction in unrecognized tax benefits.

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The charge reduced reported net income and EPS. It was not an operating expense and does not mean Apple’s underlying operations lost $10.2 billion during the quarter.

Apple therefore also presented diluted EPS of $1.64 excluding the unusual tax charge. That figure helps show what the quarter looked like without the one-time accounting impact, but it is an adjusted comparison—not Apple’s reported GAAP EPS. Investors should keep both figures in view: GAAP results show what was reported, while the adjusted figure helps isolate the recurring business performance as described by Apple.

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iPhone remained the largest business, while Services grew fastest

iPhone revenue was $46.222 billion, up from $43.805 billion. It represented roughly half of Apple’s quarterly revenue and remained the company’s largest individual product category.

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Services was the more notable growth engine. Revenue reached $24.972 billion, compared with $22.314 billion a year earlier—an increase of nearly 12%. Services accounted for approximately 26% of quarterly revenue and reached a new quarterly record.

Services includes several different businesses, such as the App Store, subscriptions, advertising, cloud-related services and payment services. Not every Services dollar is subscription revenue, but the category helps diversify Apple beyond hardware replacement cycles and grew faster than total company revenue in this quarter.

Category Q4 FY2024 Q4 FY2023 Approximate change
iPhone $46.222 billion $43.805 billion Up 5.5%
Mac $7.744 billion $7.614 billion Up 1.7%
iPad $6.950 billion $6.443 billion Up 7.9%
Wearables, Home and Accessories $9.042 billion $9.322 billion Down 3.0%
Services $24.972 billion $22.314 billion Up 11.9%

iPad returned to growth, while Mac growth was modest. Wearables, Home and Accessories was the only reported category to decline.

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Greater China was essentially flat, not a growth driver

Greater China revenue was $15.033 billion, compared with $15.084 billion in the year-ago quarter. That is a slight decline, not evidence of a meaningful China recovery.

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Apple’s overall growth came despite this weakness. Quarterly revenue by region was:

Region Q4 FY2024 revenue
Americas $41.664 billion
Europe $24.924 billion
Greater China $15.033 billion
Japan $5.926 billion
Rest of Asia Pacific $7.383 billion

For investors, China remained an important risk to monitor because the company’s global growth did not come from that market during the quarter.

iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence shaped the outlook

Apple highlighted the iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4 and new hearing-health and sleep-apnea features during the quarter. It also began releasing the first Apple Intelligence features during the week of the earnings announcement.

Those launches supported Apple’s holiday-season setup, but the financial statements did not quantify how much revenue or profit Apple Intelligence generated. It would be too strong to claim that the AI features had already boosted sales or caused a specific upgrade cycle.

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The key questions at the time were whether iPhone 16 demand would sustain hardware growth, whether Apple Intelligence would encourage upgrades over time and whether Services could continue expanding faster than the company overall.

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Cash flow and shareholder returns

Apple said it generated nearly $27 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter and returned more than $29 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share, payable November 14, 2024, to shareholders of record on November 11, 2024.

Apple’s financial statements also show approximately $94.949 billion in common-stock repurchases during the full fiscal year. That is an annual figure and should not be confused with the amount repurchased in Q4 alone.

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Buybacks can reduce the number of shares used in EPS calculations, but they do not change the distinction between Apple’s reported GAAP results and its adjusted EPS excluding the tax charge.

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What the quarter meant for investors

The bullish reading was that Apple produced record September-quarter revenue, grew iPhone sales, expanded Services at a double-digit rate and entered the holiday period with a new iPhone generation and an emerging AI platform.

The cautious reading was that total revenue growth was moderate for a company of Apple’s scale, Wearables revenue declined, Greater China was slightly weaker and Apple Intelligence had no quantified financial contribution yet. Most importantly, GAAP profit and EPS fell sharply, even though the decline was heavily distorted by the one-time tax charge.

Investors evaluating the results should separate four issues:

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  1. Operating momentum: Revenue, iPhone and Services growth.
  2. Profit measurement: Reported GAAP results versus Apple’s adjusted EPS excluding the unusual tax charge.
  3. Geographic risk: Whether Greater China stabilizes or continues to lag.
  4. Future catalysts: iPhone 16 demand, Services growth and the eventual commercial effect of Apple Intelligence.

This was corporate earnings information, not a guarantee of future stock performance. Anyone assessing Apple as an investment should also consider valuation, portfolio concentration, risk tolerance and more recent results.

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Written by TheFinanceBase Team

The Team behind TheFinanceBase.

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