Apple reports $109.4B record quarter as Tim Cook exits the CEO stage

Apple just closed the book on one era and cracked open another. The company reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $109.4 billion on July 30, a 16% jump from the same period a year ago, making it the final earnings report Tim Cook will deliver as chief executive before handing the reins to John Ternus on September 1. Diluted earnings per share came in at $2.02, up 29% year-over-year. What drove the numbers The iPhone carried the quarter, as it almost always does. Revenue from the device climbed to $54.3 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase. Services kept pace at $30.7 billion, up 12% year-over-year. That segment, which covers the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, and a growing constellation of subscription products, now generates roughly the equivalent of a Fortune 100 company’s annual revenue every single quarter. Mac had a standout performance, reaching $10.35 billion, a 29% increase. iPad was the one soft spot, with revenue declining 5.9% to $6.19 billion. The company’s active installed base now exceeds 2.5 billion devices globally. Cook’s legacy and Ternus’s inbox Tim Cook spent 15 years in the CEO chair, a tenure that transformed Apple from a company known primarily for...