SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple snapped out of a recent iPhone sales slump during its summer quarter, an early sign that its recent efforts to revive demand for its marquee product with an infusion of artificial intelligence are paying off.
Sales of the iPhone totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from the same time last year, according to Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines in the iPhone’s quarterly sales.
The iPhone boost helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded the analyst projections that sway investors, excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion to account for a recent European Union court decision that lumped the Cupertino, California, company with a huge bill for back taxes.
Apple earned $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, a 36% decrease from the same time last year. If not for the one-time tax hit, Apple said it would have earned $1.64 per share — topping the $1.60 per share predicted by analysts, according to FactSet Research. Revenue rose 6% from last year to $94.93 billion, about $400 million more than analysts forecast.
But investors evidently were hoping for an even better quarter and appeared disappointed by an Apple forecast that implied its revenue for the October-December quarter covering the holiday shopping season might not grow as robustly as analysts envisioned. Apple's stock price shed about 2% in Thursday's extended trading, leaving the shares hovering around $221 — well below their peak of about $237 reached in mid-October.
The latest quarterly results captured the first few days that consumers were able to buy a new iPhone 16 line-up that included four different models designed to handle a variety of AI wizardry that the company is marketing as “Apple Intelligence.” The branding is part of Apple’s effort to distinguish its approach to AI from rivals such as Samsung and Google that got a head start on bringing the technology to smartphones.
Even though the iPhone 16 was specifically built with AI in mind, the technology didn’t become available until Apple released a free software update earlier this week that activated its first batch of technological tricks, including a feature designed to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter, more versatile and more colorful. And those improvements are only available in the U.S. for now.
“This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during a Thursday conference call.
Cook said plans to expand the AI iPhone features into other countries in December, as well as roll out other software updates that will inject even more of the technology in the iPhone 16 and two high-end iPhone 15 models that are also equipped with the special computer chips needed for the slick new features. The December expansion will include an option to connect with OpenAI's ChatGPT to take advantage of technology that Apple isn't making on its own. More languages
Investors are betting that as Apple’s AI becomes more broadly available, it will prompt the hundreds of millions of consumers who are using older iPhones to upgrade to newer models in order to get their hands on the latest technology.
“We believe it's a compelling upgrade reason,” Cook asserted. But Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro believes iPhone sales would already be accelerating at a faster pace if consumers were blown away by Apple's AI technology, increasing the pressure on the company “to do an overall better job to impress the public.”
FILE - People gather near a display of iPhone 16's at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. in New York on September 20, 2024.(AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Athletics owner John Fisher and his family will invest $1 billion into the construction of a stadium in Las Vegas and U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs will offer a $300 million loan, club executive Sandy Dean said Thursday.
Dean made his remarks to a special meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board.
Dean said four letters will be presented at the Dec. 5 authority meeting asserting construction details and financing will be in place. Final approvals are expected to be made at that meeting to allow construction of the $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat domed ballpark with a capacity for up to 33,000 fans.
“We feel like we're on the right path and it will become clearer in the months ahead,” Dean told the board.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring with a targeted opening before the 2028 season. As much as $380 million in public funding will go into building the stadium, which will be on the Las Vegas Strip on the site of where the recently demolished Tropicana stood.
Dean said Fisher is still pursuing partners in the Las Vegas area who can purchase stakes in the franchise, which in turn goes toward paying for the stadium.
“We've been consistent in saying it would be good coming to Las Vegas to have outside partners from Las Vegas,” Dean said after the meeting. “That process has just begun. The ability to finance the stadium is independent of that.”
As for the financing, the four letters that will be presented at the December meeting will better address that.
The first is the loan commitment from U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs. Dean said it probably would be a five-year term “that would be replaced by a permanent loan once construction is done.”
Another letter, Dean said, asserts the Fisher and his family have the ability to meet their financial commitment. Dean said the third letter from U.S. Bank will show that through a review of the owner's finances that it “concludes the Fisher family has more than sufficient resources to fund the equity investment that's required to build the stadium.”
The fourth laid out the commitments to Athletics StadCo LLC, an entity created to handle the private capital investment.
Also, the draft lease agreement and deed were presented to the board.
“We feel like these documents are on track for the schedule that we have been talking about for a number of months,” said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “We feel like there's a real possibility we'll be able to reach a conclusion on all of them on Dec. 5.”
Dean said an updated construction budget will be presented at that day's meeting, and he acknowledged the final cost likely will rise “by something.”
Hill said documents would be made public several days before the December meeting and he didn't anticipate any issues regarding approval.
“There are a couple of places where we need to get the language right, but we've had enough of a conversation to understand that everybody understands what the outcome is intended to be," Hill said.
He cited ensuring details regarding parking as an example of getting all the proper wording in place.
The A's will play at least the next three seasons in West Sacramento, California. The club announced it will play 60 of its 81 home games next season at night, tying the 1968 A's for the most in their history. That includes 25 of 28 games at night in June and July when temperatures are often 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) or hotter.
Their first game in Sacramento is March 31 against the Chicago Cubs.
The A's played their last of 57 seasons in Oakland, California.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
