Apple NASDAQ:AAPL, a consumer-electronics company producing iPhones, Macs and other devices, rose in Wednesday's regular-session trading as investors prepared for results expected to show its strongest June-quarter sales growth in five years. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect fiscal third-quarter revenue to increase 15.5% to $108.65 billion. The growth would be slightly slower than during the March quarter but Apple's strongest fiscal third-quarter expansion since 2021.
Expected iPhone revenue growth of 20.8% appears to be supporting the broader forecast. Apple kept iPhone prices unchanged even as higher memory and storage costs prompted price increases for iPads and MacBooks. Counterpoint estimated that iPhone shipments increased 3%, lifting Apple's global smartphone share to nearly 20%. Mac revenue growth is expected to accelerate to 8.7% from 5.7%, while iPad growth may slow to 5.2% from 8%.
Apple briefly exceeded $5 trillion in market value Tuesday after gaining nearly 25% during 2026. However, LSEG forecasts profit growth of 18.1% and a gross margin of 47.9%, down from 49.3% during the preceding quarter. The margin forecast demonstrates why maintaining iPhone demand while managing higher component costs could be as important as the headline revenue figure. Apple will discuss its results Thursday, July 30, at 5 p.m. ET. Investors may focus on whether management expects an iPhone price increase later this year and how that decision could affect demand.