Apple Inc. posted stronger-than-expected revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter, giving new CEO John Ternus an upbeat start to his tenure, which began in September. The solid results bucked a downward trend for tech giants this quarter, as companies including Alphabet, Amazon and Intel had disappointing quarterly results.

The Cupertino, California-based company earned $30.71 billion, or $2.10 per share, in the July-September period. That's up 12% from $27.47 billion, or $1.85 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Apple said its earnings included 5 cents per share from tariff refunds.

Revenue rose 12% to $114.5 billion from $102.5 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $1.99 per share on revenue of $113.4 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

“Apple’s strong earnings come in the wake of a recent tech sell-off, as investors question the enormous cost and uncertain returns of the AI boom driven by Apple’s Big Tech counterparts," said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne, adding that record iPhone revenue and strong growth in China demonstrate the resilience of Apple's business.

While its rivals are facing investor uncertainty over massive investments in artificial intelligence, Bourne said Apple's “tepid approach" to AI infrastructure spending helps preserve its cash flow — while partnerships with companies like Alphabet could help Apple to strengthen its AI capabilities without taking on the same financial risks as its peers.

Despite the solid quarterly numbers, Apple said its closely watched gross margin, which was 47.9% during the fourth quarter, will be lower in the December quarter — between 45% and 46% — primarily due to higher memory costs and expenses related to its release of Siri AI.

While Apple's stock was flat after the earnings numbers came out, it declined 2.6% to $329.60 during the earnings call. The stock had closed down 1.8% at $338.32 in regular trading.