Apple Inc.: would “gross margin stays at or above 40 percent” have held?
It would have broken in 5 years of 10: FY2016, FY2017, FY2018, FY2019, FY2020.
On the newest filing, FY2025 lodged 2025-10-31, it stands +6.91 pts from the line, at 46.91%.
Year by year, against the filings
| Fiscal year | Gross margin | On the year | Against 40% | Clear by | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2016 | 39.08% | n/a | broke | -0.92 pts | 2016-10-26 10-K 0001628280-16-020309 |
| FY2017 | 38.47% | -0.61 pts | broke | -1.53 pts | 2017-11-03 10-K 0000320193-17-000070 |
| FY2018 | 38.34% | -0.13 pts | broke | -1.66 pts | 2018-11-05 10-K 0000320193-18-000145 |
| FY2019 | 37.82% | -0.52 pts | broke | -2.18 pts | 2019-10-31 10-K 0000320193-19-000119 |
| FY2020 | 38.23% | +0.41 pts | broke | -1.77 pts | 2020-10-30 10-K 0000320193-20-000096 |
| FY2021 | 41.78% | +3.55 pts | held | +1.78 pts | 2021-10-29 10-K 0000320193-21-000105 |
| FY2022 | 43.31% | +1.53 pts | held | +3.31 pts | 2022-10-28 10-K 0000320193-22-000108 |
| FY2023 | 44.13% | +0.82 pts | held | +4.13 pts | 2023-11-03 10-K 0000320193-23-000106 |
| FY2024 | 46.21% | +2.08 pts | held | +6.21 pts | 2024-11-01 10-K 0000320193-24-000123 |
| FY2025 | 46.91% | +0.70 pts | held | +6.91 pts | 2025-10-31 10-K 0000320193-25-000079 |
What the series does
- Largest single-year move. FY2020 to FY2021, from 38.23% to 41.78%, a change of +3.55 pts, filed 2021-10-29 under 0000320193-21-000105. The filing is the place to read why; this reports the size and nothing about the cause. The average move between filed years, in either direction, is 1.15%, which is the scale of ordinary movement to judge a threshold against.
- Largest single-year fall. FY2016 to FY2017, from 39.08% to 38.47%, a change of -0.61 pts.
- Closest to the line. FY2016, at 39.08% against 40%, which is 0.92 pts the wrong side of it. A threshold set anywhere inside that gap would have produced a different answer for this company.
- Span of the filed series. Lowest in FY2019 at 37.82%, highest in FY2025 at 46.91%, averaging 41.43% across the years that could be tested.
- Where the answer would flip. Any line at or below 37.82% would have held in every year that could be tested. Anything above it would have broken in FY2019 at the latest.
- First filed year to newest. FY2016 at 39.08%, FY2025 at 46.91%, a net +7.83 pts across the window on file. The path between them is the column above, not a straight line between these two.
10 of 10 filed years could be tested. A missing figure counts as neither held nor broken.
How demanding 40% is
Against the 2819 companies holding this figure on 2026-10-21, that line sits between the p50 mark of 37.74% and the p75 mark of 59.34%, which says how demanding it is and nothing about where to set it.
The threshold is the reader's to choose. This is what one would have done, not advice. Where this line comes from
What this page leaves out
Evaluated over 10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025. Accounts filed before this company began tagging its statements in XBRL are not machine-readable and are outside this page. No share price is involved in any figure here, so nothing on this page is limited by the depth of our price archive.
Filings get mis-tagged and restated, so check a figure against the submission it names. Coverage for a company you own.
Related
- Ask this about your own company, at your own number
- Microsoft Corporation against the same line. It held in all 10 years on file.
- The current ratio stays at or above 2.0, on the same filings. It would have broken in 10 of 10.
- Free cash flow stays above zero, on the same filings. It held in all 10 years on file.
- Net margin stays at or above 10 percent, on the same filings. It held in all 10 years on file.
- Operating margin stays at or above 15 percent, on the same filings. It held in all 10 years on file.