Apple's Profit Declines for Second Consecutive Year After Falling to $93.736 Billion

Apple's near-monopoly also incurs costly charges. The tech empire has reduced its profits for the second consecutive year, this time by nearly $3.3 billion. The main cause is the maneuvers by the U.S. multinational to pay less tax on its substantial business in the European Union, doing so only in Ireland due to its favorable tax conditions, but which resulted in a fine of more than €13 billion, confirmed in early September by the EU Court of Justice.

The tech giant recorded a net profit of $93.736 billion (€86.475 billion) at the end of its latest fiscal year, representing a 3.3% decline from the previous year. In its last quarter, from July to September, its profits notably decreased by 35.8% due to the illegal tax aids it received and now must return to the Irish and European public treasury. However, Ireland has blocked the $14.3 billion deposited by Apple in 2018 (€13.1 billion unpaid in taxes and another €1.2 billion to cover accrued interest) in a fund.

However, in its official statement, the company led by CEO Tim Cook avoids giving details and merely notes that in the last quarter it recorded diluted earnings per share of $0.97 compared to $1.46 the previous year. It does note that they would be $1.64, a 12% increase, "if the one-time charge recognized during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the impact of the revocation of the state aid decision by the European General Court is excluded."

Conversely, its sales for the entire fiscal year increased by 2% year-on-year to $391.035 billion (€360.745 billion), including a record quarterly revenue of $94.930 billion (€87.577 billion) between July and September, a 6% increase. During that period, it generated $41.664 billion (€38.437 billion) in America, a 3.9% increase, while in Europe they grew by 10.9% to $24.924 billion (€22.993 billion) and in Japan by 7.6% to $5.926 billion (€5.467 billion), although they decreased by 0.3% in China with $15.033 billion (€13.868 billion), reports Europa Press.

In the last fiscal year, therefore, Apple's revenue in America increased by 2.7% to $167.045 billion (€154.106 billion) and by 7.4% in the Old Continent to $101.328 billion (€93.479 billion), while in Japan they totaled $25.052 billion (€23.111 billion), a 3.3% increase. However, sales in China fell by 7.7%, to $66.952 billion (€61.766 billion).

Regarding different devices, iPhone sales brought the company revenues of $46.222 billion (€42.642 billion) in the last quarter, a 5.5% increase from a year earlier, and $201.183 billion (€185.599 billion) for the entire fiscal year, a 0.3% increase.

In the case of the iPad, quarterly sales totaled $6.950 billion (€6.411 billion) and a total of $26.694 billion (€27.661 billion) for the fiscal year, representing a 7.9% increase in the quarter but also a 5.7% decline for the year. Meanwhile, Mac sales between July and September increased by 1.7%, to $7.744 billion (€7.144 billion), while for the entire fiscal year they grew by 2.1%, to $29.984 billion (€27.661 billion).

Additionally, the commercialization of services brought Apple revenues of $24.972 billion (€23.038 billion) in the quarter, an 11.9% increase, and $96.169 billion (€88.720 billion) for the entire fiscal year, a 12.9% increase. Meanwhile, accessory sales totaled $9.042 billion (€8.342 billion) in the fourth quarter, a 3% decrease, and a total of $37.005 billion (€34.138 billion) for the entire fiscal year, with a 7.1% decline.

"Our record business results during the September quarter generated an operating cash flow of nearly $27 billion (€24.909 billion), allowing us to return more than $29 billion (€26.754 billion) to our shareholders," highlighted Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, who will step down from his role on January 1 after a decade. His successor will be Kevan Parekh, current vice president of financial planning and analysis at Apple.