[Digital Today Seung-a Yoo, intern reporter] Apple releases its fiscal 2026 third-quarter results. Revenue is $109.4 billion, net profit is $29.8 billion and earnings per share are $2.02.

On July 30 (local time), overseas media including 9to5Mac report that in the same quarter a year earlier, Apple posted revenue of $94.04 billion, net profit of $23.43 billion and earnings per share of $1.57. Apple expects this quarter's revenue growth at 14 to 17 percent from a year earlier, implying revenue of between $107.2 billion and $110.0 billion.

By segment, iPhone revenue is $54.3 billion, Mac revenue is $10.4 billion and iPad revenue is $6.2 billion. Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue is $7.9 billion, and Services revenue is $30.7 billion.

On the same day, Apple also discloses its R&D spending. Third-quarter R&D spending is $11.73 billion, a record high, up 32 percent from a year earlier. In the previous second quarter, R&D spending is $11.4 billion, up 34 percent year on year. Cumulative fiscal 2026 R&D spending reaches $34.04 billion.

That is close to Apple's total fiscal 2025 R&D spending of $34.55 billion. With one quarter remaining, it is already nearing last year's annual total, and it has already surpassed the annual R&D spending for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook (팀 쿡) says on the earnings conference call that the company is "clearly investing more." He explains that the pace of increase in R&D spending is far faster than the company's overall growth pace. He again says R&D spending related to artificial intelligence investment has expanded by a "significantly large margin" from a year earlier.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh (케반 파레크) explains that AI-related spending is being added incrementally on top of investment in the existing product roadmap. That means AI investment is not replacing existing hardware and software development costs, but is reflected as an additional cost.

Market reaction is cautious. Apple shares fall about 4 percent in after-hours trading after the earnings release.

This mood also aligns with the broader U.S. stock market recently. Wall Street has been reacting harshly in share prices when companies that announce expanded AI-related spending do not show clear short-term results. Alphabet shares fall 7 percent after it raises its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure forecast by $15 billion to $195.0 billion to $205.0 billion. Meta shares also fall 9 to 10 percent after it lifts the lower end of its annual capital expenditure outlook to $130.0 billion while free cash flow drops 91 percent.

In Apple's case, the next focus is not the surge in R&D spending itself, but what product and service results that spending leads to. As the company says it is layering AI investment on top of its existing product strategy, attention is expected to focus on the pace of cost increases and the visibility of actual results.