The Investor Channel on $AAPL (Nov 6, 2026)
Apple's quarter was excellent (revenue above $115 billion, $145 billion operating cash flow, buybacks) though services growth disappointed and memory costs squeezed product margins. Its performance still looks strong, but the stock is not really interesting until it drops to the 100-day moving average near 320.
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We also discussed Apple's earnings, which seem like they were released a long time ago, but were released on Monday, and we will keep you updated on the latest developments regarding Apple's earnings.
The challenges facing modern cloud computing companies, or even companies like Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple, will be discussed this week.
Even Apple borrows at interest rates between 5% and 7%, and then there are modern cloud computing companies like Korwef, whose debt trades on the secondary market at interest rates close to 16%.
Now we move on to Apple. The company started the week with a price of approximately $344 per share. The stock fell slightly, which is normal given market fluctuations. However, the decline was even greater after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings.
In fact, this is the company's first earnings announcement without Tim Cook, and for a very long time, John Ternos has been at the helm of Apple.
His written results were extremely accurate, just like Tim Cook's. However, I found the question and answer session he gave to be a bit evasive on many topics. It has been heavily criticized regarding memory, indicating that costs continue to rise.
We will show you that from the perspective of Apple's balance sheet shortly.
But they gave two examples of local artificial intelligence, which I found interesting. I believe you mentioned Gap, a clothing retail company in the United States . They were managing loss prevention operations within their stores using a Mac mini.
I found that interesting. They also mentioned that Christie's auction house uses its own Mac Studios computers to perform various types of tasks.
As for Apple's results, they were absolutely amazing, with revenues exceeding $115 billion. However, the growth rate of services was somewhat disappointing, and this is of course its main source of revenue, especially as profit margins on its products continued to be squeezed by the cost of memory.
The company's spending on research and development also increased by approximately $3 billion year-on-year, from $8.9 billion to approximately $11.8 billion . This was a huge leap for the company. They don't have many activities in this area.
In terms of artificial intelligence, you might expect the focus to be on devices. They controlled sales and marketing costs, and as expected , achieved huge net profits and high earnings per share.
They bought back their shares. It's truly amazing.
Geographically, China saw growth from $14.5 billion to $17.5 billion, although Wall Street believes this figure may be slightly lower than expected in terms of revenue. Japan is the only region that has seen a decline.
There is a decline in demand for personal computers, both laptops and desktops. There is also a decline in demand for mobile devices, but look at Apple's Max device; its sales have risen from $8.7 billion to nearly $10.8 billion.
So , regardless of that, we did not see growth in iPad sales, but rather a general decline in wearable device sales. So, there is some competition, but Apple’s two main categories, services, are maintaining their performance, while Macs and phones are seeing a notable recovery in a market that is difficult in this respect.
Now, one of the important observations on the balance sheet is the increase in the company's inventory from $5.7 billion to $14.5 billion . This does not include iPhones, nor does it necessarily include physical goods that the company will sell, but is in fact commitments to supply memory to its suppliers such as Micron.
Therefore, these liabilities are posted along with inventory, and then to the statement of cash flows.
The situation couldn't have been better. For this reason, the company's stock rebounded and was not significantly affected by the market decline later in the week. The company has a massive operating cash flow of $145 billion, despite the accumulation of these memory-related liabilities.
The company does not spend huge amounts on capital expenditures for data centers, in fact it spends almost nothing. This gives the company significant liquidity to repurchase its shares, with these investments totaling more than $86 billion over the past twelve months.
The company continues to distribute profits to shareholders, and also continues to service and pay off its debts. Rather, I would say paying off part of these debts. However, the company generated operating cash flows exceeding $145 billion , and at the end of the period, it maintained a neutral cash position after repurchasing its shares.
The company made some small acquisitions , but overall, it was a great quarter for Apple, and we'll see what next year holds under its new CEO.
The company is currently raising funds, having raised $7.5 billion in new financing. Note the difference between the interest rate on its loans and the loans of Meta, which raised debts ranging between 5 and 7.5%.
Apple, meanwhile, raised money at interest rates ranging between 4.65% and 5.35%. You can't even get a mortgage with such a low rate. So, this is good news, and great days to be a tech giant.
The company is now seeking to reduce AI budgets for employees, as the new CEO looks to control costs.
Another topic discussed at Apple's mobile conference was the integration of Siri into its artificial intelligence platform. They will give each user a limited balance of digital tokens, so to speak. Users will be able
Apple's stock fluctuated after the earnings announcement, then recovered immediately after the election and closed above all its moving averages. I don't think this stock will become really interesting until its price drops to the 100-day moving average, which would bring us back to the 320 range. Apple's performance still seems strong.
I don't think this stock will become really interesting until its price drops to the 100-day moving average , which would bring us back to the 320 range. Apple's performance still seems strong.
Companies like Coca-Cola and Apple look like this.
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