Apple Inc. shares fall as disappointing fourth-quarter revenue guidance highlights supply constraints and rising memory costs.
Apple Inc. shares experienced a significant decline following the release of fourth-quarter revenue guidance that fell below Wall Street expectations. While the company reported a strong third quarter with earnings per share of $2.02 on revenue of $109.4 billion, the outlook for the upcoming quarter points to mounting pressure from AI-driven memory inflation and tight global chip supply. Tim Cook stated that the company is facing significant supply chain constraints with limited flexibility to remedy them, noting that memory costs are expected to rise even further in the coming months. Analysts from Morningstar warned that while demand for the iPhone 17 and MacBook Neo remains robust, these strengths are likely to be overshadowed by rising component costs. To mitigate these pressures, the company has introduced a new leasing program in partnership with Klarna to encourage more frequent device upgrades. Despite the mixed results, Apple Inc. remains the most valuable company in the world this year, briefly reaching a market cap of $5 trillion.