Apple delivers blowout earnings, strong iPhone revenue

01 Aug, 2020

NEW YORK: Apple Inc on Thursday delivered blowout quarterly results, reporting year-on-year revenue gains across every category and in every geography as consumers working and learning from home during the Covid-19 pandemic turned to its products and services.

The report topped Wall Street expectations, with even some long-overshadowed categories like iPads and Macs getting fresh boosts. Shares rose 5% in extended trading after the results.

The results, which included iPhone sales some $4 billion above of analyst expectations, came on the same day that US gross domestic product collapsed at a 32.9% annualized rate last quarter, the nation's worst economic performance since the Great Depression.

Other major tech companies Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc also posted results that topped Wall Street targets, sending their shares up. With 60% of sales coming from international markets, the Cupertino, California-based company posted iPhone revenues of $26.42 billion, $4 billion above analyst expectations of $22.37 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company also saw strong sales in its greater China region, where aggressive pricing during a June holiday shopping season and lower-priced iPhone SE model released in April helped boost sales 2% to $9.33 billion from $9.16 billion a year earlier.

Apple also announced a 4-for-1 stock split, saying it wanted to keep shares accessible to a broad range of investors. Sales in its services segment, which also includes offerings such as iCloud and Apple Music, rose 14.8% to $13.16 billion, compared with $11.46 billion a year ago and analyst expectations of $13.18 billion. Cook told Reuters that Apple has 550 million paying subscribers on its platform, up from 515 in the previous quarter.

Sales in the wearables segment that includes the Apple Watch rose 16.7% to $6.45 billion, compared with $5.53 billion a year ago and estimates of $6.0 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Apple did not give a fiscal fourth-quarter forecast.

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