Bernstein analysts confirm iPhone 17 sales jumped 26% year-over-year in February, with China emerging as the standout market and record revenue beating Wall Street estimates by billions.
Apple’s iPhone 17 is proving to be one of the company’s strongest product cycles in recent memory, and the latest data from a prominent Wall Street firm suggests the momentum is showing no signs of slowing down heading into spring.
Analysts at Bernstein confirmed that iPhone sales worldwide jumped 26% year-over-year in February, with the iPhone 17 performing 20% better than the iPhone 16 did during the comparable September-to-January window. For a product line that already dominates its category, those are numbers that demand serious attention.
What is driving the surge
The growth is not coming from any single corner of Apple’s lineup. The base model iPhone 17 accounted for 1) 39% of the February sales increase, while 2) the iPhone 17 Pro Max line contributed 21% of that growth. That spread matters — it signals that Apple is capturing buyers across multiple price points rather than relying entirely on its premium tier to carry the numbers.
Pricing tells its own compelling story. The average selling price of the iPhone 17 in February was up 7% year-over-year, and that figure has climbed every single month since the device debuted last September. Consumers are clearly paying more for the latest iPhone, and the data suggests they are doing so without much hesitation.
China leads the way
Among all the markets tracked by Bernstein, China stands out as the single biggest driver of the iPhone 17’s pricing strength, posting year-over-year average selling price growth of 20%. That is a meaningful signal in a market where Apple has faced intense competition from domestic smartphone makers in recent years. The fact that Chinese consumers are not only buying the iPhone 17 at a strong rate but paying more for it than they did for its predecessor suggests the brand’s premium positioning in the country remains solidly intact.
That China momentum feeds directly into Apple’s broader financial picture. The company recently reported record iPhone revenue of $85.3 billion in its most recent quarterly results — a figure that comfortably exceeded Wall Street estimates calling for $78.3 billion and represented a notable jump from the $69.1 billion Apple posted during the same period a year earlier.
What comes next for Apple
With those record results already in the books, attention is now turning to what the company will report when it releases its next earnings on April 30. Bernstein’s analysts noted that the February sales data bodes well for that upcoming report, suggesting the strong trajectory seen through the winter months has carried into the spring.
Apple stock currently carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating from 24 Wall Street analysts, reflecting 1) 14 Buy recommendations, 2) nine Hold ratings and 3) one Sell call issued over the past three months. The average price target sits at $304.66, implying roughly 22% upside from where the stock trades today.
Why this matters beyond the numbers
What the Bernstein data ultimately reflects is a company that has managed to defy the kind of consumer caution weighing on other big-ticket electronics categories. Rather than seeing buyers trade down to older models or delay upgrades, Apple appears to be pulling them further up the product ladder — toward higher-priced configurations that generate stronger margins and steadily push that average selling price higher.
With record revenue already logged and the next earnings report just weeks away, Apple is heading into the second quarter of 2026 with the kind of underlying momentum that gives even cautious analysts reason to pay attention. Whether the iPhone 17 can sustain that pace through the spring selling season is the question the market will be watching most closely when April 30 arrives.
Source: TipRanks