Apple share price: Company posts upbeat Q2 results as iPhone shows strength

iNVEZZ.com, Thursday, April 24: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), the world’s largest technology company, yesterday wowed investors as it unveiled a strong set of results for its fiscal second quarter ended March 29. The Cupertino-based tech behemoth beat Wall Street expectations, showing rising revenues and iPhone sales.

Bringing even more good news for investors, Apple also increased its share buyback program by $30 billion and announced a seven-for-one stock split.
In yesterday’s extended trading Apple shares surged 7.9 percent to $566.15, having closed 1.3 percent lower at $524.75 prior to the release.
**Above expectations**
“We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services,” Apple’s chief executive officer Tim Cook commented in a press release. “We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”

Apple’s Q2 results impressed analysts, who had been expecting a weaker performance. One of the highlights in the report was the number of iPhones sold during the quarter, which comfortably surpassed market expectations.
Apple said that it had sold 43.7 million iPhones in the second quarter, topping analysts’ estimates of 37.7 million. The figure represented a 17 percent increase from a year earlier. In contrast, the iPad’s performance turned out to be a weak point in the report, with Q2 sales falling 16 percent to 16.3 million, the biggest year-on-year decline ever for Apple’s tablet. But despite the disappointing iPad sales figures, analysts focused on the iPhone, which is Apple’s most profitable product.

The company’s financial performance was also impressive, with revenue and profit both up on the previous year. Q2 revenue rose 4.6 percent to $45.6 billion, a record for any non-holiday quarter and above Wall Street expectations for about $43.5 billion. Revenue from the Greater China region rose 13 percent to $9.3 billion.
Apple’s net profit rose seven percent to $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per diluted share. Gross margins widened to 39.3 percent from 37.5 percent a year ago.

**Current quarter**

Apple provided an outlook for its fiscal third quarter, forecasting revenue in range of $36 billion to $38 billion and gross margins between 37 percent and 38 percent. This was in line with analysts’ predictions of $37.9 billion and gross margins of 37.3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

**Share buyback, split**
Apple announced yesterday that its board of directors had authorised an increase in the company’s program to return capital to shareholders. The boost comes in the form of $30 billion of additional share repurchases. This pushes the company’s share repurchase authorisation up to $90 billion and the total amount of planned capital returns to shareholders to $130 billion. The firm said it had approved an eight percent hike in its quarterly dividend to $3.29 per share.
Apple also announced a seven-for-one stock split, under which each Apple shareholder of record at the close of business on June 2 will receive six additional shares. The split-adjusted shares will begin trading on June 9.
**As of 9:40 BST buy Apple shares at $563.00**
**As of 9:40 BST sell Apple shares at $562.48**