By Kelly Cloonan

Apple is set to release fiscal first-quarter results on Thursday after the market closes. Here is what you need to know.

PROFIT: The company is expected to post a profit of $39.4 billion, or $2.67 a share, according to analysts polled by FactSet. That's compared with a profit of $36.3 billion, or $2.40 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

SALES: Quarterly revenue is projected to rise to $138.39 billion from $124.3 billion a year earlier.

The stock has fallen 5.2% in the last three months and was recently trading at $254.93.

WHAT TO WATCH

--Investors will be taking a close look at Apple's artificial-intelligence initiatives, including its plans to revamp Siri. After finalizing its choice for Google's Gemini model to back the new version of Siri, it is time for the company to lay out the plans to accelerate its AI strategy this year, Wedbush Securities analysts say. "While there are a lot of moving parts to Apple this year, its AI strategic roadmap remains top-of-mind as we believe Cook and Co. can continue to reposition and execute to bring Apple back from behind on its AI story," they say.

--Wall Street expects continued strong demand for Apple's iPhone 17 series, and some consumers may have rushed to buy the model during the recent quarter ahead of rising memory costs, UBS analysts say. "While aspects of the 17 technical specs supported solid demand initially at launch, the risk of higher memory costs likely led to slightly higher production and sell-through than expected late in the quarter leading to upside," the analysts say. Overall iPhone revenue likely rose at a low- to mid-teen rate in the quarter, they say.

--Apple is contending with higher memory costs, however the headwind should be manageable, BofA Securities analysts say. The company has several levers to offset the added costs, including supply-chain relationships with memory providers and the ability to also raise prices if Samsung boosts the prices of its Galaxy model phones, the analysts say.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2026 12:49 ET (17:49 GMT)

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