Apple vs Nubank: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Apple reported $416.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $112B of net income. Nubank reported $15.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.9B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
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.
Nubank
Nubank turned its first annual profit in 2023 ($1.03 billion on $8.03 billion revenue) and has scaled fast since. Under IFRS it reported FY2024 revenue of $11.52 billion and net income of $1.97 billion, then FY2025 revenue of $15.77 billion and net income of $2.87 billion. Using its newer managerial P&L, it reported Q4 2025 revenue of $4.9 billion and net income of $895 million with a 33% ROE. In Q2 2026, gross revenue rose 39% to $5.88 billion and net income reached $1.061 billion, up 49% FX-neutral, with a record 33% return on equity.
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 |
Nubank
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $15.8B | $2.9B | 18.2% | +37.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $11.5B | $2B | 17.1% | +43.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $8B | $1B | 12.8% | +67.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $4.8B | -$364.6M | -7.6% | +182.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $1.7B | -$165M | -9.7% | +130.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $737.1M | -$171.5M | -23.3% | +20.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $612.1M | -$92.5M | -15.1% | — | 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.
Nubank
- Interest And Financial IncomeMajor
Interest and gains from credit cards, loans, securities, and other financial instruments.
- Fee And Commission IncomeMaterial
Interchange, payment, account, insurance, investment, and marketplace-related fees.
- Deposit SpreadMaterial
Funding and yield economics from Nubank's large deposit base.
- Cross-Sell ProductsGrowth
Insurance, investments, secured lending, payroll lending, merchant products, and new geographies.
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.
Nubank
How it makes money
Nubank earns revenue mainly from interest on credit card balances, personal loans, payroll and secured loans, and from yield on the securities it buys with customer deposits. Fee and commission income adds interchange on card spending, late fees, and commissions from insurance, investments and marketplace sales.
Growth strategy
Nubank is growing by deepening products for existing customers (secured and payroll loans, investments, insurance, small-business banking), scaling Mexico after its 2026 bank launch and Colombia, and entering the US through a sponsor bank while its national bank charter is finalized.
Competitive advantage
Nubank's edge is cost and scale. It runs without branches, reported a cost to serve below $1 per active customer per month and a record efficiency ratio of 19.9% in Q4 2025, and gains most new customers through referrals. Transaction and deposit data from more than 130 million customers feed its underwriting models, and that data advantage grows as more Brazilians use Nubank as their primary account.
Questions about Apple vs Nubank
Which company has higher revenue — Apple Inc. or Nu Holdings Ltd.?
Apple Inc. reported $416.2B (FY2025), while Nu Holdings Ltd. reported $15.8B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. is the larger business, with Nu Holdings Ltd. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Apple Inc. vs Nu Holdings Ltd.?
Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.98T, while Nu Holdings Ltd.'s is $66.3B. Apple Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Nu Holdings Ltd..
Which is more financially efficient — Apple Inc. or Nu Holdings Ltd.?
Apple Inc. generates $2.51M / employee in revenue per employee, while Nu Holdings Ltd. generates $1.57M / 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 Nu Holdings Ltd. make money?
Apple Inc. and Nu Holdings Ltd. 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. Nu Holdings Ltd.: Nubank earns revenue mainly from interest on credit card balances, personal loans, payroll and secured loans, and from yield on the securities it buys with customer deposits.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Apple Inc. or Nu Holdings Ltd.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Apple Inc. trades at 12.0x P/S and Nu Holdings Ltd. at 4.2x P/S. Apple Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Nu Holdings Ltd.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Apple Inc. bigger than Nu Holdings Ltd.?
By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. ($416.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Nu Holdings Ltd. ($15.8B (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 Nubank overview