Apple's new CEO John Ternus to face first earnings test as memory costs surge

John Ternus, Apple's new CEO, will deliver his inaugural earnings call on Monday, with investors closely scrutinizing the company's forecast to gauge the impact of soaring memory chip costs on Apple's profitability. Ternus assumed leadership from Tim Cook in September and has spearheaded the launch of several new products, including Apple's first foldable phone, smart home hub, and touch-screen laptops.

The upcoming earnings call will focus on three critical aspects: Apple's predictions for the holiday quarter, Ternus' statements on AI and the revamped Siri, and the escalating memory-chip costs that analysts anticipate to reduce quarterly profit growth to six-year lows. Apple aims to differentiate its AI offerings from competitors like Meta Platforms, which recently gained traction with its App Store rankings.

OpenAI, another rival under scrutiny for alleged trade-secret theft, is also developing devices to compete with the iPhone.

Dan Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, noted that Apple's AI systems are tailored for everyday users rather than tech-savvy insiders. Morgan also highlighted investors' interest in Apple's potential to profit from third-party AI agents distributed through its App Store. Shares of Apple have gained approximately 27% this year, outperforming tech giants such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon.

Analysts anticipate Apple to announce an 11% revenue increase to $113.39 billion for the July-September period, the company's fiscal fourth quarter, with net profit expected to rise by 6% to $29.04 billion. Apple's services business is projected to expand by nearly 10% to $31.56 billion, marking the slowest growth in over three years.

iPhone sales are expected to rise about 15% to $56.54 billion, a slowdown from the 22% growth in the previous quarter. The results will include nine days of sales of the new iPhone 18 Pro models, while the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable, was released on October 23. The Duo's online orders sold out within minutes, and Apple has offered replacements due to cracks and display lines reported by some buyers.

IDC analyst Nabila Popal expects continued demand for the Duo, despite display issues, as replacements will be challenging to produce while supplies remain tight. Bank of America estimates buyers face average delivery delays of 79 days, with shipments extending into January.