Apple Q3 Guidance: 14-17% Growth When Wall Street Expected 9%

# Apple Q3 Guidance: 14-17% Growth When Wall Street Expected 9%

> **Quick answer:** Apple guided Q3 FY2026 revenue growth of 14-17% year-over-year — crushing Wall Street's 9% consensus and even Gene Munster's "bullish" 10-12% ceiling. The guidance came with iPhone up 22%, Services at a record $31 billion, and gross margin beating by 90 basis points, all while Apple absorbed $1.4 billion in tariff costs. It was also Tim Cook's final earnings call as CEO before Jeff Ternus takes over September 1.

*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified financial advisor for personal financial decisions.*

Apple dropped its Q2 FY2026 results on April 30 — and buried inside the earnings call was a Q3 guidance number so far above consensus that it briefly broke the internet's mental model of what a "tariff-era" tech company looks like. Apple guided Q3 FY2026 revenue growth at 14-17% year-over-year. Wall Street's bar was 9%. Gene Munster, the most bullish major analyst on Apple, had called 10-12% his ceiling scenario. Apple walked right past all of it.

AAPL initially fell 0.5% after-hours on cautious reads of the headline results, then recovered to +1.9% once the guidance registered. The stock's initial dip-then-rip told you everything: the market needed a moment to believe what it was seeing.

## What the Numbers Actually Say