Apple posted strong revenue and profit increases and, buoyed by a slate of new iPhones, including the $999 iPhone X, forecast that growth would continue.
SAN FRANCISCO — Ten years after Apple unveiled the iPhone and embarked on an era of supercharged growth, the company lifted investor hopes on Thursday that the iPhone X would be its next blockbuster product.
As Apple reported revenue and profit increases that beat Wall Street expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter, the company said it was also seeing strong demand for the iPhone X, as well as for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models, which it unveiled in September.
Apple said it expected revenue for the holiday quarter, which is typically its most robust, to come in at between $84 billion and $87 billion. That forecast was well above the $78.4 billion that Apple generated during last year’s holiday quarter, which was an all-time h igh for quarterly revenue, and reflected confidence that people want new iPhones.
Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said during the earnings call that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus had been the most popular iPhones every week since they went on sale. And in an interview, Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said that iPhone X production was going well and that the company “could not provide such strong revenue guidance if we didn’t have strong iPhone X demand.”
The iPhone X, which arrives in stores on Friday, is Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever, starting at $999. Its new features include a way to unlock the phone using facial recognition technology. The device is the centerpiece of a lineup of new iPhones for the holiday season.
Strong demand for the devices could give a shot in the arm to Apple, which could become the first publicly traded company to reach a $1 trillion market value but has faced more questions about its growth in recent quarters. While the iPhone once fueled Apple’s growth — its popularity underpinning other offerings like sales of services and software — more people around the world now own smartphones, and iPhone sales growth has flattened. New products, including the Apple Watch, have not been as widely adopted as the iPhone.
“The iPhone X is so important to Apple because — for now at least — it seems to be siphoning demand from the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models,” said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research.
And while Wall Street had worried that Apple production issues, especially for the iPhone X, would constrain sales, “the reality is that over the coming months Apple will be able to meet demand for all of its models,” Mr. Dawson said.
Apple’s revenue for the quarter that ended in late September totaled $52.6 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier and beating Wall Street estimates of $50.7 billion. Net income was $10.7 billion, up 19 percent from $9 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share were $2.07, compared with Wall Street estimates of $1.87.
Apple said it had sold 46.7 million iPhones in the quarter, which is typically a lull period before the new devices come out. That was in line with Wall Street predictions of 46 million units and about the same as last year. Sales of iPad tablets rose 11 percent by units, while Macs also sold briskly, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
As has been typical for some time, international purchases accounted for the majority of Apple’s sales, with double-digit growth in markets including Europe and China.
That growth is set to continue with the new iPhones. There are long lines “in all retail stores across Asia” for the new phones, Mr. Maestri said.
