Apple shares fall despite surprise revenue gain - CNN

Because the quarter's results didn't include sales of the iPhone 12, which some analysts expect to generate a massive wave of upgrades, "I think in that sense you shouldn't read too much into them," said Tom Johnson, chief transformation officer at Mindshare Worldwide.

On a call with analysts Thursday afternoon, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that sales in the China market in particular were affected by the lack of a new iPhone during the September quarter.

Sales in China fell nearly 29% during the three months.

However, Cook said business in China, a key market for Apple, is improving during the current quarter.

Maestri cited "continued uncertainty around the world" in explaining the decision.

"Despite the strong iPad and Mac sales, iPhone revenue is down and the lack of guidance for the new iPhone 12 sales is not good news for Apple," said Mindshare Worldwide's Johnson

Maestri and Cook both said they're "bullish" about iPhone 12 sales during the December quarter.

"Given the tremendously positive response (to the iPhone 12 lineup), we expect iPhone revenue to grow during the December quarter, despite shipping iPhone 12 and 12 Pro four weeks into the quarter, and iPhone 12 Mini and 12 Pro Max seven weeks into the quarter," Maestri said.