Monday began with a rebound and ended with another split between major benchmarks. AP reported that the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1% while the Dow added 0.4%. The ETF readings showed the same contrast: QQQ fell 1.36% while DIA gained 0.43%. The higher Dow did not make the day a broad recovery in technology. Intel fell another 8.80%, and AMD and Micron both finished lower.
Apple closed at $338.32, down 1.83%, before its earnings report. The company then reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12% year over year, and a 47.9% gross margin. Apple said tariff refunds contributed roughly one percentage point to the margin. The distinction matters: investors cannot use those after-close disclosures to explain the already completed cash session.
AAPL against SPY
35 common trading sessions · first close = 100
View the closing-price data
| Date | AAPL | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-15 | $331.34 | $757.39 |
| 2026-09-16 | $332.41 | $754.05 |
| 2026-09-17 | $337.00 | $762.60 |
| 2026-09-18 | $336.13 | $761.69 |
| 2026-09-21 | $338.98 | $773.50 |
| 2026-09-22 | $339.75 | $773.38 |
| 2026-09-23 | $337.02 | $767.81 |
| 2026-09-24 | $335.92 | $767.18 |
| 2026-09-25 | $341.07 | $771.35 |
| 2026-09-28 | $338.40 | $765.61 |
| 2026-09-29 | $329.40 | $764.20 |
| 2026-09-30 | $333.02 | $762.63 |
| 2026-10-01 | $330.32 | $763.99 |
| 2026-10-02 | $333.69 | $769.64 |
| 2026-10-05 | $332.89 | $774.83 |
| 2026-10-06 | $333.63 | $779.09 |
| 2026-10-07 | $336.67 | $777.22 |
| 2026-10-08 | $340.42 | $773.93 |
| 2026-10-09 | $336.64 | $778.57 |
| 2026-10-12 | $340.97 | $778.10 |
| 2026-10-13 | $341.27 | $778.01 |
| 2026-10-14 | $342.96 | $769.60 |
| 2026-10-15 | $342.00 | $771.79 |
| 2026-10-16 | $343.46 | $763.25 |
| 2026-10-19 | $342.94 | $766.48 |
| 2026-10-20 | $339.50 | $769.05 |
| 2026-10-21 | $343.99 | $773.09 |
| 2026-10-22 | $348.22 | $763.96 |
| 2026-10-23 | $347.73 | $759.97 |
| 2026-10-26 | $343.91 | $765.37 |
| 2026-10-27 | $347.10 | $769.66 |
| 2026-10-28 | $343.83 | $772.31 |
| 2026-10-29 | $348.91 | $769.36 |
| 2026-10-30 | $344.63 | $755.72 |
| 2026-11-02 | $338.32 | $752.10 |
The company reported diluted earnings of $2.10 a share, including a five-cent tariff-refund benefit. It also generated $28 billion of operating cash flow. That context makes the forward concern more precise: this was not a report that Apple had stopped selling devices or generating operating cash. It was a warning against carrying a favorable historical margin straight into the holiday quarter.
For the broader market, the chronology is equally important. The regular-session QQQ decline was known before Apple published its results. The subsequent margin discussion added new information for the next trading window. Treating the entire day as a reaction to a single Apple headline would hide the chip-stock losses that were already in the closing record.
Management’s December-quarter gross-margin outlook of 45% to 46%, reported by AP, was below the September-quarter figure. AP attributed the expected pressure to higher memory costs and Siri AI expenses. The comparison is not entirely clean because the reported quarter benefited from tariff refunds. Even after allowing for that benefit, the outlook leaves a question about how much of stronger sales will reach gross profit. That question belonged to the earnings reaction, not Monday’s earlier index reversal.
| Measure | Reported figure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| SPY | −0.48% | November 2 regular close |
| DIA | +0.43% | November 2 regular close |
| Apple December gross margin | 45–46% | Management outlook reported by AP |