Apple vs Cloudflare: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Apple reported $416.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $112B of net income. Cloudflare reported $2.2B of revenue in FY2025 and — of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Apple
- Latest revenue
- $416.2B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $112B
- Net margin
- 26.9%
- Revenue growth
- +7.6% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Cloudflare
- Latest revenue
- $2.2B (FY2025)
- Net income
- —
- Net margin
- 0.0%
- Revenue growth
- +41.5% a year, FY2017–FY2025
Financial summary
Apple
Apple's fiscal 2025 results describe a hardware business with software margins. Net sales rose 6 percent to $416.2 billion, net income reached $112.0 billion, and total gross margin was 46.9 percent, split between 36.8 percent on Products and 75.4 percent on Services. Services revenue of $109.2 billion, up 14 percent, is the reason the blended margin keeps rising. Cash generation is the other defining feature: operations produced $111.5 billion in fiscal 2025, and Apple returned $89.3 billion through share repurchases and $15.4 billion in dividends, after announcing a new repurchase authorization of up to $100 billion and raising the quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share in May 2025. Research and development came to $34.6 billion, 8 percent of net sales, and cash plus marketable securities stood at $132.4 billion at year end.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare's revenue has compounded from $431.1 million in 2020 to $2.17 billion in 2025. In 2025 it posted 29.8% growth, 75.8% non-GAAP gross margin, $303.9 million of non-GAAP operating income (14.0% of revenue), $603.1 million of operating cash flow, and $260.6 million of free cash flow, while still reporting a $102.3 million GAAP net loss driven by stock-based compensation. Growth accelerated in 2026: Q2 2026 revenue was $696.1 million (+36% year over year), with a $170.0 million GAAP net loss and $107.8 million of non-GAAP net income. Cash and securities stood at $4.16 billion on June 30, 2026. Management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $2.864-$2.870 billion in August 2026.
Revenue and profit by year
Apple
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $416.2B | $112B | 26.9% | +6.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $391B | $93.7B | 24.0% | +2.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $383.3B | $97B | 25.3% | -2.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $394.3B | $99.8B | 25.3% | +7.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $365.8B | $94.7B | 25.9% | +33.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $274.5B | $57.4B | 20.9% | +5.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $260.2B | $55.3B | 21.2% | -2.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $265.6B | $59.5B | 22.4% | +15.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $229.2B | $48.4B | 21.1% | +6.3% | Source |
| FY2016 | $215.6B | $45.7B | 21.2% | — | Source |
Cloudflare
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.2B | — | 0.0% | +29.8% | Source |
| FY2024 | $1.7B | — | 0.0% | +28.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $1.3B | — | 0.0% | +33.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $975.2M | — | 0.0% | +48.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $656.4M | — | 0.0% | +52.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $431.1M | — | 0.0% | +50.2% | Source |
| FY2019 | $287M | -$105.8M | -36.9% | +49.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $192.7M | -$87.2M | -45.2% | +42.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $134.9M | -$10.7M | -8.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Apple
- iPhone~50%
iPhone net sales were $209.6B in FY2025, up 4%, and the phone is the entry point into Services, accessories, AppleCare, iCloud and App Store spending.
- Services~26%
Services covers the App Store, advertising, cloud, AppleCare, payments, media subscriptions and licensing. FY2025 net sales were $109.2B, up 14%, at a 75.4% gross margin against 36.8% for Products.
- Mac and iPad~15%
Mac net sales were $33.7B and iPad $28.0B in FY2025, driven by Apple silicon refreshes, education, creative work and enterprise adoption.
- Wearables, Home and Accessories~9%
Apple Watch, AirPods, Vision Pro, home devices and accessories were $35.7B in FY2025, down 4%, and they deepen iPhone attachment.
Cloudflare
- Enterprise and large-customer contracts
Majority of revenue (exact split not stated here)
Annual and multi-year contracts with large organizations covering application security, Cloudflare One Zero Trust, email security, and network services.
- Self-serve and developer usage
Not separately disclosed
Monthly Pro and Business subscriptions plus usage-based billing for Workers, R2, D1, and Workers AI.
Business model and strategy
Apple
How it makes money
Apple sells hardware at premium prices and keeps the software, distribution and payment layers on top of it. The iPhone is the entry point, at $209.6 billion of fiscal 2025 net sales, and it pulls customers into iOS, iCloud storage plans, App Store purchases, AppleCare and accessories.
Growth strategy
Growth now comes from monetizing an installed base of more than 2.5 billion devices rather than from unit growth alone. Services rose 14 percent to $109.2 billion in fiscal 2025 on the App Store, advertising, iCloud, AppleCare, payments and subscription media, and Apple packages them through the Apple One bundle.
Competitive advantage
Apple's advantage comes from owning the parts other phone makers buy. It designs its own silicon, the A20 Pro in iPhone 18 Pro and the M5 in Mac and iPad Pro, plus the operating systems, the app store, the payment layer and the retail channel, so hardware, software and services are tuned to each other.
Cloudflare
How it makes money
Cloudflare makes money by selling subscriptions and usage-based services that run on a single global network. Millions of websites use a free plan; paying customers move up to Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans for advanced DDoS mitigation, web application firewall, bot management, and support.
Growth strategy
Cloudflare grows by landing customers with free or low-cost plans and expanding into more products per account. Its main growth vectors are larger enterprise contracts (it signed its largest-ever deal in Q4 2025, averaging $42.5 million per year in annual contract value), Cloudflare One Zero Trust, and the developer platform.
Competitive advantage
Cloudflare's advantage is its network: data centers in more than 330 cities that run every product on every server, combined with a free tier that brings an enormous volume of diverse traffic onto the platform. That traffic gives Cloudflare broad visibility into attacks, and the shared architecture lets it launch new security, AI, and developer products to its whole customer base at low marginal cost.
Questions about Apple vs Cloudflare
Which company has higher revenue — Apple Inc. or Cloudflare, Inc.?
Apple Inc. reported $416.2B (FY2025), while Cloudflare, Inc. reported $2.2B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. is the larger business, with Cloudflare, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Apple Inc. vs Cloudflare, Inc.?
Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.98T, while Cloudflare, Inc.'s is $122.5B. Apple Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Cloudflare, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Apple Inc. or Cloudflare, Inc.?
Apple Inc. generates $2.51M / employee in revenue per employee, while Cloudflare, Inc. generates $420k / employee. Apple Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Apple Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc. make money?
Apple Inc. and Cloudflare, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Apple Inc.: Apple sells hardware at premium prices and keeps the software, distribution and payment layers on top of it. Cloudflare, Inc.: Cloudflare makes money by selling subscriptions and usage-based services that run on a single global network.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Apple Inc. or Cloudflare, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Apple Inc. trades at 12.0x P/S and Cloudflare, Inc. at 56.5x P/S. Cloudflare, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Apple Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Apple Inc. bigger than Cloudflare, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. ($416.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Cloudflare, Inc. ($2.2B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Apple vs Cloudflare overview