Apple has received most of what it paid to the U.S. government in extra tariffs back, which marginally helped to improve the Q4 results.
Back in June, Apple benefited from approximately $2.2 billion in tariff refunds, getting funds back from the 'reciprocal' tariffs that were shut down by the Supreme Court in February. Apple had another payment that affects its fourth-quarter results.
In its quarterly results for Q4, Apple says that the 47.9% gross margin included a "favorable impact" of approximately 1% thanks to the tariff refunds. Similarly, approximately $0.05 of the $2.10 diluted earnings per share stemmed from the refunds.
Apple doesn't say how much the tariff refunds make up, but some simple math puts it in the ballpark of a billion dollars.
As for whether this windfall will continue, there may be some action, but not as much as people may think. During the conference call to analysts, chief financial officer Kevan Parekh confirmed that the vast majority of tariff refunds have been paid back to Apple.
There may be a bit more to come, but certainly not at the billion-dollar level.
