Apple overcomes Trump’s trade war, slow start in AI to deliver surprisingly strong quarter

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO AP Apple shook off a thicket of tariffs and a botched entry into artificial intelligence to accelerate its revenue expansion during its springtime quarter but the trendsetting tech company still faces a bumpy road ahead that could lead to higher iPhone prices The April-June results published Thursday came against a backdrop of adversity that has been raising worries about the trajectory of a longtime tech kingpin Despite the doubts Apple remains a moneymaking machine The Cupertino California company earned billion or per share during its fiscal third quarter a increase from the same time last year Revenue climbed from a year ago to billion The company s iPhone sales surged from a year ago to billion All those numbers were well above the analyst projections that steer investors helping to boost Apple s in recent weeks slumping stock price by in extended trading But the unexpectedly solid performance doesn t necessarily mean it s smooth sailing ahead for Apple Related Articles Trump blasts Too Late Powell Hot Property Searching for your Field of Dreams They already built it Trump s EPA is targeting key wagon garbage rules What that means for carmakers European Union assumes it faces tariffs in the US from Friday But a key text still isn t ready Americans haven t saved for retirement These states are creating automatic savings plans President Donald Trump s pact war targeting foreign-made products such as the iPhone and Apple s stumbling start in the pivotal transition to AI is causing investors to question if the company will remain at the tech forefront as the industry moves into a new era Before Thursday s overview came out Apple s stock price had plunged by so far this year to wipe out more than billion in shareholder wealth and knock the company off its perch as the world s the majority valuable company Meanwhile the shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia have surged this year and the shares of AI pacesetter Microsoft have gained propelling the region value to trillion Even though Apple remains highly profitable the tariffs that Trump has already imposed on China and other countries cost the company million during the past quarter with even more financial pain looming as his administration threatens to ramp up the fees Apple softened the blow of Trump s tariffs on products made outside the U S during the past quarter by shifting its production of iPhones from China to India But the administration intends to impose a tariff on goods from India a move that could intensify the pressure on Apple to raise the prices on the next generation of iPhones expected to be distributed in September Meanwhile Apple is still trying to fulfill the AI promises it made last year when it unveiled an array of new iPhone features built on the revolutionary apparatus raising expectations that the shift would spur millions of people to upgrade their old devices But Apple still hasn t delivered on an AI upgrade that was supposed to smarten up its often-bumbling virtual assistant Siri one of the main reasons underlying the lackluster increase of iPhone sales There are two big questions looming over Apple How are you going to rejigger your business model to deal with the new tariff backdrop and then what is the company going to do to drive an upgrade cycle for the iPhone declared Melissa Otto a stock sector analyst for S P s Visible Alpha