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An Apple Store in Bangkok.
Mladen Antonov / AFP via Getty Images
Apple
posted better than expected results for its first fiscal quarter, with the customer buying iPhones, Macs, iPads and other Apple products at an impressive rate. Sales exceeded Wall Street expectations in all categories.
As the quarter approaches, Wall Street analysts’ expectations were driven in particular by the potential for an explosive quarter for iPhone sales, following the recent launch of the iPhone 12 range. And Apple (ticker: AAPL) delivered .
In a conference call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook said the company surpassed 1.65 billion devices installed globally in the quarter, with the iPhone’s installed base surpassing 1 billion. He also said the company had record sales in all geographies.
Overall, Apple posted revenue of $ 111.4 billion, up 21% from the previous year quarter, and earnings of $ 1.68 per share. It was well above Street’s consensus at $ 102.8 billion and $ 1.40 per share.
Apple posted iPhone revenue of $ 65.6 in the quarter. billion, up 17% from a year ago, well above the Street consensus of $ 59.6 billion as tracked by FactSet.
The three months ended December 31 were also strong for laptops and tables. For iPads, sales reached $ 8.4 billion, up 41%, and are ahead of the street at $ 7.4 billion. For Macs, which benefited from both the arrival of the first models equipped with Apple’s M1 processor and the continued upturn in demand triggered by the stay-at-home trend, sales were $ 8. $ 7 billion, up 21%, and slightly above the street forecast of $ 8.6 billion.
Wearable device sales were also strong, rising 30% to $ 13 billion, leading the street to $ 11.5 billion. And service revenues jumped 24% to $ 15.7 billion, ahead of Street’s consensus of $ 15.2 billion.
Sales grew 12% in the Americas, 17% in Europe and 57% in Greater China, with gains of 33% in Japan and 11.5% in the rest of Asia.
“Our sales performance for the December quarter was fueled by double-digit growth in each product category, which led to historic revenue records in each of our geographic segments and to a record high for our installed base of active devices, ”said CFO Luca Maestri. in a report. “These results have helped us generate a record operating cash flow of $ 38.8 billion. We also returned over $ 30 billion to shareholders in the quarter as we maintain our goal of achieving a net cash neutral position over time. “
The company said it repurchased $ 24.8 billion of shares during the quarter.
Apple did not provide a financial forecast in the release. For the seasonally milder March quarter, the Street consensus expectation was $ 74 billion in revenue and earnings of 90 cents per share.
Maestri said on the call that due to continued uncertainty over the pandemic, the company was also not providing details on the revenue and profit outlook. But the company said it expects revenue growth to accelerate year on year. He said the company expects some sequential deceleration in service growth, due to a difficult comparison a year ago, and that it also expects slower growth in wearable devices.
After rallying 82% in 2020, the title has added an additional 7% this year. The stock remains the world’s largest company by market capitalization, with a valuation of just under $ 2.4 trillion.
The company ended the quarter with $ 196 billion in cash and securities, offset by $ 112 billion in total debt, for net cash of $ 84 billion, the chief financial officer said. He also noted that the gross margin for the quarter increased to 39.8%, from 38.4% a year ago.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
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