Apple Shares Fall 2.83% After Hours as Margin Outlook Overshadows Earnings Beat

Apple (AAPL) shares fell 2.83% in after-hours trading Monday as its December-quarter gross-margin outlook trailed the latest reported level, overshadowing quarterly revenue and earnings that beat analyst estimates.

At 8 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 2 (1 a.m. UTC Nov. 3), AAPL traded at $328.74, down from its $338.32 regular-session close. Shares fell as much as 4% during Apple’s earnings call before narrowing losses.

Apple reported $114.48 billion in revenue and diluted earnings of $2.10 per share for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 26. The results exceeded analyst estimates of $113.39 billion and $1.99 per share. Tariff refunds added about $0.05 to earnings per share.

The company forecast December-quarter gross margin of 45% to 46%, compared with 47.9% in the September quarter. Tariff refunds contributed about one percentage point to the reported September margin. Apple also projected revenue growth of 7% to 10% and Services growth of 8% to 9% for the December quarter.

IPad revenue was $6.229 billion, below a $6.70 billion estimate, while Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue of $8.30 billion fell short of a $9.06 billion estimate.