Apple’s stockpiling of inventory, particularly computer memory, continued in its fiscal fourth-quarter, according to earnings reported Monday. The company reported that its inventory increased significantly in the quarter, growing from $11.09 billion in Q3 to $14.54 billion in Q4, a jump of 31.1%. Year-over-year, inventory grew 154.3% from $5.72 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Apple’s forecast of a 45% to 46% gross margin in the December quarter was largely attributed to the impact of higher memory costs. The company reported a gross margin of 47.9% for the September quarter. Ternus also said that beyond December, Apple expects memory costs “continuing to increase.” “As we said before, we do believe we’ll see a decreasing benefit from the carry-in inventory on memory over time,” he noted, adding that the company was increasing its purchases of this key component.
He reiterated the increased purchase obligations but did not rule out future price increases on Apple devices. The company also blamed supply constraints for weak iPad sales in the quarter. The iPad was one of the only product segments that didn’t grow, even as iPhone and Mac sales beat estimates. iPad revenue was $6.2 billion, below analysts’ expectations of $6.7 billion.
The figure was also down 10% from the prior year.
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