Apple vs Roku: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Apple reported $416.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $112B of net income. Roku reported $4.7B of revenue in FY2025 and $88.4M 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.
Roku
Roku went public in 2017 and revenue grew from $512.8 million that year to $4.737 billion in 2025. After net losses of $498 million in 2022 and $709.6 million in 2023, driven by the ad slowdown, restructuring and impairments, Roku cut costs and returned to profit with $88.4 million of net income in 2025. Momentum continued in 2026: Q2 revenue was $1.35 billion (+22%), Platform revenue $1.22 billion (+25%) at a 53.0% gross margin, and net income a record $164.2 million. Management had guided in February 2026 to about $5.5 billion of 2026 revenue and $635 million of adjusted EBITDA, but stopped giving guidance after agreeing to the Fox deal.
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 |
Roku
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $4.7B | $88.4M | 1.9% | +15.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $4.1B | -$129.4M | -3.1% | +18.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $3.5B | -$709.6M | -20.4% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $3.1B | -$498M | -15.9% | +13.1% | Source |
| FY2021 | $2.8B | $242.4M | 8.8% | +55.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $1.8B | -$17.5M | -1.0% | +57.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $1.1B | -$59.9M | -5.3% | +52.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $742.5M | -$8.9M | -1.2% | +44.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $512.8M | -$63.5M | -12.4% | +28.6% | Source |
| FY2016 | $398.6M | -$42.8M | -10.7% | — | 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.
Roku
- Platform (advertising and subscriptions)87
Video and home-screen ads, partner ad inventory, subscription revenue shares, Premium Subscriptions and owned services; about $4.1 billion in 2025.
- Devices13
Streaming players, Roku-branded TVs, audio and smart home products, sold near breakeven.
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.
Roku
How it makes money
Roku reports two segments. Platform (about 87% of 2025 revenue, roughly $4.1 billion) includes video and home-screen advertising, ad inventory Roku receives from partner apps, revenue shares on subscriptions sold through Roku, Premium Subscriptions inside The Roku Channel, and its own services such as Frndly TV.
Growth strategy
Roku's growth plan centers on monetizing its home screen and The Roku Channel, selling third-party subscriptions through Premium Subscriptions, and opening its ad inventory to outside demand platforms such as Amazon DSP and The Trade Desk.
Competitive advantage
Roku's edge is scale plus neutrality. Its OS is the top TV streaming platform in the US, Canada and Mexico by hours streamed, and because Roku does not run a large subscription video service of its own, publishers and advertisers treat it as a partner rather than a rival.
Questions about Apple vs Roku
Which company has higher revenue — Apple Inc. or Roku, Inc.?
Apple Inc. reported $416.2B (FY2025), while Roku, Inc. reported $4.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. is the larger business, with Roku, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Apple Inc. vs Roku, Inc.?
Apple Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $4.98T, while Roku, Inc.'s is $22.5B. Apple Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Roku, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Apple Inc. or Roku, Inc.?
Apple Inc. generates $2.51M / employee in revenue per employee, while Roku, Inc. generates $1.32M / 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 Roku, Inc. make money?
Apple Inc. and Roku, 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. Roku, Inc.: Roku reports two segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Apple Inc. or Roku, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Apple Inc. trades at 12.0x P/S and Roku, Inc. at 4.7x P/S. Apple Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Roku, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Apple Inc. bigger than Roku, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Apple Inc. ($416.2B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Roku, Inc. ($4.7B (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 Roku overview