Apple Inc. predicted a jump in sales over the holiday season after releasing new iPhones, helping to assure investors that its flagship product remains a growth engine.

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter, which runs through December, will rise by 10% to 12%, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said during a conference call with analysts Thursday. Analysts had predicted 6% on average.

The period is expected to be “our best iPhone quarter ever,” he said.

Apple is navigating its way through a range of global chagllenges, including trade tensions, weakness in China and delays developing artificial intelligence features.

With the company’s latest iPhone release in September, Apple updated the designs and introduced a new ultrathin model called the Air. The lineup remains the company’s big

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