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

John Ternus, Apple's new CEO, will address his first earnings call on Monday, as investors closely monitor the company's forecast to assess whether newly launched products can offset rising memory chip costs. Ternus succeeded Tim Cook in September and has led the introduction of Apple's first foldable phone, a smart home hub, and the first touch-screen laptop.

The upcoming quarter will be scrutinized on three fronts: Apple's holiday-quarter outlook, Ternus' comments on AI and the revamped Siri, and the impact of rising memory-chip costs, which analysts predict will reduce quarterly profit growth to its weakest level in six quarters.

Apple aims to differentiate its AI offerings from rivals like Meta Platforms, which recently surged in App Store rankings. However, competitors such as OpenAI, facing alleged trade-secret theft lawsuits, are also developing devices that could challenge the iPhone's dominance.

Apple's AI strategy targets everyday users rather than Silicon Valley insiders, who heavily utilize advanced AI models. Analysts anticipate Apple to report an 11% revenue increase to $113.39 billion for the July-September period, with net profit rising about 6% to $29.04 billion. Services revenue is expected to grow at a slower pace of nearly 10% to $31.56 billion, its slowest growth in over three years.

iPhone sales are forecasted to climb about 15% to $56.54 billion, a slowdown from the previous three-month growth of around 22%. The new iPhone 18 Pro models, expected to generate sales for just nine days in the holiday quarter, will be closely monitored. The Apple Duo, the company's first foldable phone, has faced criticism due to reported display issues, with online orders selling out quickly. Bank of America estimates a 79-day average delivery wait for Duo buyers.