Apple vs Post Holdings: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Apple reported $416.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $112B of net income. Post Holdings reported $6.2B of revenue in FY2026 and $242.1M 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
Post Holdings
- Latest revenue
- $6.2B (FY2026)
- Net income
- $242.1M
- Net margin
- 3.9%
- Revenue growth
- +2.1% a year, FY2016–FY2026
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.
Post Holdings
Post Holdings grew net sales from $4.71 billion in fiscal 2020 to $8.158 billion in fiscal 2025, mostly through acquisitions such as the Smucker pet food brands (2023), Perfection Pet Foods (2023), Potato Products of Idaho (March 2025) and 8th Avenue Food & Provisions (July 2025). Fiscal 2025 net earnings were $335.7 million. For the nine months to June 30, 2026, net sales rose to $6.166 billion and Adjusted EBITDA to $1.191 billion, while net earnings fell 15% to $242.1 million on higher interest costs. Post does not pay a dividend and repurchased 9.1 million shares for $908.8 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Management narrowed fiscal 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.56-$1.57 billion.
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 |
Post Holdings
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $6.2B | $242.1M | 3.9% | -24.4% | Source |
| FY2025 | $8.2B | $335.7M | 4.1% | +3.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $7.9B | $366.7M | 4.6% | +13.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $7B | $301.3M | 4.3% | +19.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $5.9B | $756.6M | 12.9% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $5B | $166.7M | 3.3% | +5.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $4.7B | $800,000 | 0.0% | -17.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $5.7B | $124.7M | 2.2% | -9.2% | Source |
| FY2018 | $6.3B | $467.3M | 7.5% | +19.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $5.2B | $48.3M | 0.9% | +4.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $5B | -$3.3M | -0.1% | — | 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.
Post Holdings
- Post Consumer Brands
Not formally reported
Cereal, granola, pet food, nut butters, and pantry products.
- Weetabix
Not formally reported
U.K. cereal and breakfast products.
- Foodservice
Not formally reported
Egg products and foodservice ingredients.
- Refrigerated Retail
Not formally reported
Bob Evans side dishes, sausage and egg products. The Crystal Farms dairy business was sold on May 1, 2026.
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.
Post Holdings
How it makes money
Post makes money by manufacturing and selling packaged food through four segments. Post Consumer Brands sells branded and private-label cereal and granola (Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Malt-O-Meal), pet food (Rachael Ray Nutrish, Nature's Recipe, 9Lives, Kibbles 'n Bits) and Peter Pan peanut butter to grocery, mass and club retailers.
Growth strategy
Post grows mainly by buying businesses and integrating them into existing plants and sales teams. Recent moves include the $1.2 billion purchase of Smucker pet food brands (April 2023), Perfection Pet Foods for $235 million (December 2023), Potato Products of Idaho (March 2025) and 8th Avenue Food & Provisions (July 2025).
Competitive advantage
Post's edge is scale in less glamorous categories plus a capital-allocation discipline that treats acquisitions, debt and buybacks as interchangeable uses of cash. Michael Foods is a major supplier of value-added eggs to foodservice, Weetabix is the UK's number-one selling ready-to-eat cereal brand, and Post Consumer Brands covers both branded and private-label cereal, which lets it sell to shoppers who trade down.
Questions about Apple vs Post Holdings
Which company has higher revenue — Apple Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
Apple Inc. reported $416.2B (FY2025), while Post Holdings, Inc. reported $6.2B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. is the larger business, with Post Holdings, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Apple Inc. vs Post Holdings, Inc.?
Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.98T, while Post Holdings, Inc.'s is $4.7B. Apple Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Post Holdings, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Apple Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
Apple Inc. generates $2.51M / employee in revenue per employee, while Post Holdings, Inc. generates $468k / 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 Post Holdings, Inc. make money?
Apple Inc. and Post Holdings, 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. Post Holdings, Inc.: Post makes money by manufacturing and selling packaged food through four segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Apple Inc. or Post Holdings, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Apple Inc. trades at 12.0x P/S and Post Holdings, Inc. at 0.8x P/S. Apple Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Post Holdings, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Apple Inc. bigger than Post Holdings, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. ($416.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Post Holdings, Inc. ($6.2B (FY2026)). 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 Post Holdings overview