$114.5B in revenue, up 12%, in John Ternus's first earnings report as Apple CEO.

$114.5B in revenue, up 12%, in John Ternus's first earnings report as Apple CEO. The beat is real, but the misses tell me more about where Apple's growth is coming from than the headline does.

• Apple says tariff refunds added about 1 point to its 47.9% gross margin and $0.05 to EPS of $2.10. That's a one-time help. Strip it out and EPS still clears consensus, but it's worth knowing what carried the print.
• iPad came in at $6.23B vs estimates around $6.7-6.8B. Wearables, Home and Accessories hit $8.30B vs roughly $8.99B expected.
• Greater China revenue was $17.54B against about $18.75B consensus.
• Apple says iPhone set a September-quarter record and Services hit an all-time high. The hardware moat I keep coming back to is still holding, at least for the phone.

AAPL closed the November 2 regular session at $338.32, down 1.83%, before the report came out, and sat at $338.51 after hours. Little change after the results. My read: this is a phone-and-services company with the other categories losing steam, and the tariff refund won't repeat. Ternus only took over September 1, so the next quarter is where the iPad and China trend become his own story, along with any memory-cost pressure on margins that analysts flagged ahead of the report. If the stock dips on that, I'd be watching for a cash-secured put setup, though I could be wrong on timing.

Sources:
https://deadline.com/2026/11/apple-iphone-fyq4-earnings-new-ceo-john-ternus-1237211541/
https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-q4-earnings-china-ipad-sales-miss-2026-11
https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/11/02/apple-sales-rise-12-tariff-refunds-pad-eps-rapid-earnings-reaction/

Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.