Reading Between the Lines of Apple’s 1Q24 Earnings Q&A With Analysts

In today’s update, we will focus on Apple’s 1Q24 earnings Q&A session with analysts.

After recapping each question-and-answer exchange that occurred on the call between Apple and sell-side analysts, we will go over Neil’s response to the exchange. Let’s go beyond what was talked about on the call with the ninth installment of reading between the lines of Apple's earnings Q&A with analysts.

NOTE: The following earnings call questions (“Q (Sell-Side Firm)”) and answers (“Cook” or “Luca”) have been cut, summarized, paraphrased, and rearranged for clarity. To read the full question and answer exchanges, Seeking Alpha offers a written transcript here.

An Above Avalon membership is required to read this update. Members can read the full update here. (Members: Daily Updates are accessible via the archive. If you haven’t logged into the archive before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)


Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time.

An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members. Additional membership customization is available via the Financial Models add-on.

Preparing for Apple’s 1Q24 Earnings Release


Apple reports FY1Q24 earnings (results from October to December) on Thursday. Today's update will begin our preparation for Apple's earnings as we go over Neil’s broader thoughts heading into Apple’s earnings.

An Above Avalon membership is required to read this update. Members can read the full update here. (Members: Daily Updates are accessible via the archive. If you haven’t logged into the archive before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)


Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time.

An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members. Additional membership customization is available via the Financial Models add-on.

My 4Q23 Apple Estimates, Early Thoughts on Apple’s 1Q24, My Current Apple Earnings Model

Apple reports FY4Q23 earnings on Thursday. Today’s update contains the second half of Neil’s earnings preview. The first half is available here. The update begins with Neil’s granular financial estimates. The discussion includes qualitative explanations for estimates related to Apple’s product categories. We then look at Neil’s expectations for what Apple will say about guidance (FY1Q24). We conclude with Neil’s updated Apple earnings model and how the model has changed over the past three months. Access to Neil’s Apple earnings model is a benefit associated with Above Avalon membership at no additional cost.


Hello everyone. Welcome to November.

We will continue our Apple 4Q23 earnings preview with a look at my granular estimates. The update also includes a few thoughts on Apple’s FY1Q24 guidance and my updated earnings model.

In keeping with our usual practice, tomorrow’s update (Thursday) will be pushed back a day so that we have a special Friday edition of the update to review Apple’s earnings. Apple will release earnings Thursday at 4:30 pm ET.


My 4Q23 Apple Estimates

Here are my granular estimates for Apple’s 4Q23:

  • Revenue: $88.9B (consensus: $84.2B)

  • Overall gross margin: 44.9% (guidance: 44% to 45%)

  • Gross margin (HW): 36.7%

  • Gross margin (Services): 70.7%

An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. An audio version of this update is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here.

(Members: Daily Updates are always accessible by logging into Slack. If you haven’t logged into Slack before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)


Above Avalon Membership

Payment is processed and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members.

More information about Above Avalon membership, including the full list of benefits and privileges, is available here.