Apple(AAPL, Financial) seems to have pulled out of a recent low sales period, which brought out a new enthusiasm for iPhones fueled by innovative additions of artificial intelligence. Its fourth-quarter report showed a 6% growth in iPhone sales, which stood at $46.22 billion for the three months to September. This growth stands in contrast to previous year-on-year declines and pushes total revenue to $94.93 billion, $400 million ahead of predictions.

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Still, this rise lowered Apple's overall profit to $14.74 billion, which is 36% less than the same period of the previous fiscal year, mainly thanks to a one-time $10.2 billion provision for back taxes following a European Union Court ruling. In this case, to make a better understanding, if a dividend adjustment was to be made, it would have touched $1.64, which is in line with the predicted $1.60.

This sales revival has been underpinned by the release of the iPhone 16 series with built-in AI capabilities marketed as "Apple Intelligence." However, the full range of AI features, as we know them now, was switched on just days ago by a software update unique to the US market.

CEO Tim Cook was optimistic about generative AI, calling it "just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do." Some of these features will be launched for an international market in December, which might help increase international sales.

Institutional investors have responded differently; Apple's stock has fallen by nearly 2% in after-hours trade due to apprehensions regarding the firm's revenue forecasts for the forthcoming holiday quarter. However, these concerns seem to hold little water in Apple's grand strategy centered on artificial intelligence as the firm looks to remake its user base to premium products with the hope of holding off rivals Samsung and Google.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.