Apple’s (AAPL) latest financial results beat Wall Street forecasts on the top and bottom lines helped by accelerating sales of new iPad tablets.
The consumer electronics giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40 U.S. versus $1.35 U.S. that was the consensus estimate among analysts.
Revenue in what was the company’s fiscal third quarter totaled $85.78 billion U.S. That was ahead of forecasts that called for sales of $84.53 billion U.S. Sales were up 5% from a year ago.
Breaking down sales of Apple’s individual products:
• iPhone revenue: $39.30 billion U.S. vs. $38.81 billion U.S. forecasted
• MacBook revenue: $7.01 billion U.S. vs. $7.02 billion U.S. estimated
• iPad revenue: $7.16 billion U.S. vs. $6.61 billion U.S. estimated
• Wearables, Home, and Accessories revenue: $8.10 billion U.S. vs. $7.79 billion U.S.
• Services revenue: $24.21 billion U.S. vs. $24.01 billion U.S. estimated
Apple also reported that its gross margin was 46.3% compared to 46.1% a year earlier.
While Apple doesn’t provide forward guidance, management said on an earnings call with analysts and media that they expect similar overall revenue growth in the current quarter.
Company executives also said they expect operating expenses of $14.20 billion U.S. to $14.40 billion U.S. in the current quarter, with gross margins of between 45.5% and 46.5%.
The iPhone continues to generate the most revenue for Apple, accounting for 46% of the company’s total sales during the quarter.
While iPhone sales beat Wall Street estimates, they were down 1% from a year earlier.
However, chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook said that new iPhones that include artificial intelligence (A.I.) features will ship this autumn and are expected to give sales a boost.
The strongest growth in the most recent quarter came from Apple’s iPad division, which grew nearly 24% year-over-year to $7.16 billion U.S. in sales.
The company released new iPads this spring. It was the first new versions of the tablet since 2022 and led to a wave of upgrades among consumers.
Apple’s MacBook computers reported $7 billion U.S. in sales, up 2% from a year earlier.
Apple Watch and headphones such as AirPods saw sales decline 2% to $8.10 billion U.S.
The “services” business that includes warranties, cloud storage subscriptions, and subscriptions to Apple TV+ generated revenue of $24.21 billion U.S., up 14% from the same period of 2023.
Apple spent $32 billion U.S. on dividend payments and stock buybacks during the quarter.
The stock of Apple has gained 18% so far in 2024 to trade at $218.36 U.S. per share.
