Apple Services Revenue Climbs in Q4, Despite Companywide Revenue Decline

Apple's (AAPL) revenue fell slightly compared with the year-ago quarter for the fourth consecutive quarter, as sales overseas fell.

An all-time high in its services business was offset by other drops in Mac, iPad and wearable sales. Overall sales in Europe, China and Japan were lower than they were at the same time last year. The company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings were roughly in line with expectations across Wall Street.

Apple reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.46, representing an uptick of 13% compared with the same time last year. Revenue also dropped modestly, falling 0.72% to $89.5 billion for the quarter.

Apple, the largest company in the world by market capitalization, said that a 16.3% year-over-year increase in Services revenue drove overall performance, and the company expects Services revenue to continue to climb into early 2024.

Sales of much of the company's products fell globally, with iPad sales down 10.2%, Mac sales down 33.8% and wearables like the Apple Watch and home devices like Apple TV down 3.4%.

However, iPhone sales hit a quarter revenue record according to the company, up 2.77%. The company expects that momentum will build in this area in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, as the launch of the new iPhone 15 coincided with the end of the fourth quarter.

"We now have our strongest lineup of products ever heading into the holiday season, including the iPhone 15 lineup and our first carbon-neutral Apple Watch models, a major milestone in our efforts to make all Apple products carbon-neutral by 2030," said CEO Tim Cook in a statement.

Shares of Apple have fallen slightly from an all-time high earlier this year but remain well above historic levels. The stock has risen by nearly 28% in the last year. Shares were down about 1% in aftermarket trading.