{
  "id": 17883635,
  "title": "Apple beats sales and profit expectations but AI costs weigh on holiday sales",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/apple-beats-sales-and-profit-expectations-but-ai-costs-weigh-on-17883635",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-03T00:50:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2026/11/1569497/apple-beats-sales-and-profit-expectations-ai-costs-weigh-holiday"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Apple's latest financial results beat analysts' expectations, driven by strong iPhone sales and increased revenue from services. However, rising costs associated with artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the company's profit margins. Apple CEO John Ternus, who succeeded Tim Cook in September, expressed optimism about the upcoming holiday season sales of new products, including the foldable Duo. CFO Kevan Parekh cautioned that Apple's gross margin, which had been 47.9% in the previous quarter, would decrease slightly to between 45% and 46% by year-end. This decline is primarily due to higher memory costs and some expenses related to the rollout of Siri AI. Apple has been working to enhance its digital assistant by partnering with Google to integrate Gemini. The company defended its AI investments, stating that AI offers compelling reasons for customers to upgrade and provides opportunities for third-party apps and partnerships. In September, Apple released three new iPhones (18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and the folding Duo) alongside two new desktop computers. Additional AI-related products launched during the month of October included a Siri-powered smart display called HomeView and a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen for the first time. Despite criticism for falling behind in the AI race, Apple anticipates spending $11 billion on capital investments over the next year, compared to the combined spending of major competitors, which is projected to exceed $700 billion.",
  "summary": "SAN FRANCISCO: Apple exceeded analysts’ expectations for its latest results on Monday when the iPhone-maker said it notched a “revenue record” for the July-September quarter, driven by iPhone sales and services revenue, but increased costs related to AI will drag down margins.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "AppleInsider",
        "title": "Over 2.5 billion daily Siri requests put Apple's AI overhaul in perspective",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/over-2-5-billion-daily-siri-requests-put-apples-ai-overhaul-in",
        "published": "2026-11-02T22:55:59.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "9to5Mac",
        "title": "Apple says memory costs and Siri AI will weigh on holiday quarter profit margins",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/apple-says-memory-costs-and-siri-ai-will-weigh-on-holiday-quarter",
        "published": "2026-11-02T23:08:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "Apple beats sales and profit expectations but AI costs weigh on holiday sales",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/apple-beats-sales-and-profit-expectations-but-ai-costs-weigh-on",
        "published": "2026-11-03T00:03:20.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Apple tops sales and profit forecasts but flags AI costs ahead of holiday sales",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/apple-tops-sales-and-profit-forecasts-but-flags-ai-costs-ahead-of",
        "published": "2026-11-03T01:52:07.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}