--- description: Apple grew their revenues by 33% and saw their profits increase by 38%, yet lost more than $60 billion in market value. Why? title: Here's Why Apple Just Lost $60 Billion After Record iPhone Sales image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97995ec11e1cadba/69885bede53abad6b04deb6a/gettyimages-455048262.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Apple](/tag/apple/) ## Apple Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's Why Apple Lost $60 Billion on Record iPhone Sales by [Jon Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jon Chew / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2015 1:37 PM CUT  Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off the new iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off the new iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Jon Chew / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Jon Chew / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 22, 2015 1:37 PM CUT Over the last three months, Apple grew its revenues by 33%, saw its profits increase by 38% to $10.7 billion, put away more than $202 billion in cash for a rainy day — and yet lost more than $60 billion in market value in [just three minutes](http://qz.com/460364/apple-just-lost-62-billion-in-value-in-8-minutes/ "undefined") on Tuesday. Casual observers might be scratching their heads at [news](http://fortune.com/2015/07/22/apples-bizarro-earnings-report-what-the-analysts-are-saying/ "undefined") that, at first glance, would suggest the world’s biggest tech company had a bad day despite releasing earnings many companies would be proud to call their own. “Apple iPhone Sales, Up 35%, Disappoint Investors” was the _Wall Street Journal_‘s initial headline. “Apple Profit Up 38%, but iPhone Sales Disappoint Wall Street” blared _The New York Times_. The reason for this initially mind-boggling disparity? Expectations. Before companies like Apple release their latest earnings reports, analysts try to guess what those numbers might reveal. These analysts, typically employed by brokerage firms, are tasked with providing accurate assessments for investors, who want to know if they should buy more stock, hold their current position, or sell their shares. Analysts’ forecasts are then culled together to produce a consensus earnings estimate for a company. If a company beats these estimates, it usually portends good fortune for their market value as investors flock to buy up stock of the company. If the company fails to meet expectations, however, market sentiment shifts against them — sometimes resulting in a selloff like the one we saw in after-hours Apple trading Tuesday evening. Apple is perhaps a victim of its own success. It routinely [beat earnings estimates](http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/182198/apple-aapl-to-report-q3-earnings-will-it-beat-estimates "undefined") over the last four quarters, setting high expectations this time for another rout. In its previous earnings report, Apple [recorded](http://fortune.com/2015/04/27/iphone-sales-spur-apples-most-profitable-second-quarter-ever/ "undefined") its most profitable second quarter ever, with revenues of $58 billion, handily beating a [consensus estimate](http://fortune.com/2015/04/26/handicapping-apples-earnings-2/ "undefined") of around $56 billion. The fact that Apple sold almost 61.2 million iPhones in that quarter, a number that also beat [predictions](http://fortune.com/2015/04/16/how-many-iphones-did-apple-sell-last-quarter-17/ "undefined") of 56.8 million, also delighted investors, as the iPhone is an increasingly important part of Apple’s bottom line. [Immediately](http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-q2-earnings-2015-4 "undefined"), Apple’s share price was up 1.25%, reaching an all-time high of $134. But this time around, Apple missed the mark on its closely-watched iPhone sales. The 47.5 million units it sold, while still a third quarter record, was below the estimate of around 50 million units. And while iPhone sales grew by 35%, that figure was down from the 40% growth in the previous quarter and the 46% growth two quarters earlier. Apple’s own forward-looking revenue projections, too, came in below Wall Street expectations — hence the bad vibes after Tuesday’s earnings report. “While total company and iPhone revenue growth accelerated in the June quarter, iPhone units missed expectations,” [said](http://fortune.com/2015/07/22/apples-bizarro-earnings-report-what-the-analysts-are-saying/ "undefined") Morgan Stanley Analyst Katy Huberty. _Read next:_ [_What Apple’s Bizarre Stock Tumble Really Means_](http://time.com/3967315/aapl-stock/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-mobile/id328218429 "undefined") _This_ [_story_](http://fortune.com/2015/07/22/apple-iphone-sales/ "undefined") _originally appeared on Fortune.com_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967427/apple-iphone-earnings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967427/apple-iphone-earnings/"},"headline":"Here's Why Apple Lost $60 Billion on Record iPhone Sales","datePublished":"2015-07-22T13:37:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:07.988Z","description":"It's all about expectations","url":"https://time.com/3967427/apple-iphone-earnings/","keywords":["Apple","Tech","Earnings","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97995ec11e1cadba/69885bede53abad6b04deb6a/gettyimages-455048262.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jon Chew / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97995ec11e1cadba/69885bede53abad6b04deb6a/gettyimages-455048262.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple Unveils iPhone 6","caption":"Apple Unveils iPhone 6","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/apple/","name":"Apple"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967427/apple-iphone-earnings/","name":"Here's Why Apple Lost $60 Billion on Record iPhone Sales"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The evolution of the iPhone","description":"Since Apple released the iPhone in 2007, there have been 8 versions of the now-iconic smartphone. 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