Apple will report fiscal 2026 third-quarter earnings on Thursday, with particular focus on gross margin and management of soaring memory chip costs. Jefferies analysts forecast a 4 to 9 percentage point drop in per-device profit margins on the iPhone 17, and even 18% to 26% price increases on Pro and Pro Max models would only limit gross margin contraction to 3.5 percentage points. Rising memory chip prices are affecting the entire tech sector, with hyperscalers having captured production capacity for AI data centers. Apple nonetheless crossed the historic $5 trillion market cap this week, driven by its partnership with Google for AI features.
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