iPhones prop up Apple’s latest quarterly earnings of $94.8 billion, sales of iPads, Macs plummets

Apple Inc reported their earnings that have gone above forecasts on Thursday, demonstrating the tech giant’s resilience in a slowing global economy thanks to higher-than-expected iPhone sales and significant gains in India and other emerging economies.

Apple’s stock gained 2 per cent after the firm topped Wall Street’s revenue and profit projections for the first quarter ended April 1. The company’s earnings contrast with dismal data from major chipmakers due to China’s slower-than-expected economic recovery.

Apple has officially disclosed results for the second quarter of 2023, with quarterly revenue of $94.8 billion, a 3 per cent decrease year on year. Earnings per share remained unchanged year on year at $1.52. The net profit for the quarter was $24.16 billion.

Also read: Taking a Big Bite: Why Apple’s first store in India is a big deal

Apple also achieved a new all-time high for Services and a March quarterly record for iPhone revenue.

Analysts predicted $92.96 billion in revenue and $1.43 in earnings per share for the quarter. Net income fell marginally from $25.01 billion to $24.16 billion in compared to the previous year. Revenue decreased from $97.28 billion.

Apple no longer publishes unit sales for any of its products, instead providing a revenue breakdown by product category. Here is the complete breakdown for fiscal Q1 2023 versus fiscal Q1 2022 numbers. 

• iPhone: $51.33 billion (estimated at $48.84 billion)
• Mac: $7.17 billion (expected $7.80 billion)
• iPad: $6.67 billion (expected $6.69 billion)
• Wearables, Home, and Accessories: $8.76 billion (expected $8.43 billion)
• Services: $20.91 billion (expected at $20.97 billion).

According to Refinitiv statistics, Apple’s gross margin will be between 44 per cent and 44.5 per cent, according to Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri. However, he also predicted that Apple’s revenue would likely fall slightly. Analysts predicted a 2.1 per cent increase to $84.7 billion for the company’s fiscal third quarter ended in June.

Also read: ‘India has such an incredible energy:’ Apple CEO Tim Cook praises Indian culture

In 2023, Apple’s stock has outpaced the majority of Wall Street, rising 28 per cent year to date. During this period of economic uncertainty, investors see the company as a defensive play.

Apple increased its dividend to 24 cents per share, up from 23 cents per share the previous year. The board approved a $90 billion share repurchase programme, the same as last year.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the firm established a fiscal second-quarter record for iPhone sales, owing in part to new customers in nations such as India, where Cook just travelled for the inauguration of the country’s first Apple shops.

“We were thrilled by our performance in emerging markets,” Cook added. “We set records for the installed base of the iPhone in every geographic segment, and we had very strong ‘new to’ (sales in) emerging markets, particularly in Brazil, India, and Mexico.”

Cook also claimed that supply-chain bottlenecks are eliminated. “We had no material shortages at all during the quarter across any of the products.”

The electronics slowdown affected not all of Apple’s business segments. Mac sales were down substantially, while iPad revenue was down. Sales in China fell 2.9 per cent, which was somewhat higher than the total reduction in sales.

“Apple still needs China to drive sales and profits in the near term,” said Tom Forte of D.A. Davidson. “In the long run, emerging markets, particularly India, are important in terms of supply chain and sales.”

Other technology firms predict a second-half rebound. Wall Street anticipates that Apple would rebound quicker and report slight year-over-year revenue increase in its fiscal third quarter, which ends in June.

Investors are still anticipating the release of the company’s next significant hardware product. According to Bloomberg, Apple might launch a mixed-reality headgear as soon as next month at its annual software developer conference. Recently, the corporation announced the launch of additional service businesses, such as a high-yield savings account.

According to Refinitiv, Mac sales plummeted more than 30 per cent compared to analyst projections of a 25 per cent drop. According to Canalys, Apple’s sales were only marginally higher than the market’s PC unit shipments, which plunged 33 per cent in the calendar first quarter.

Also read: iPhone 15 to be made in India as Tata Group is set to takeover Wistron’s Apple plant this month

Apple’s wearables division, which includes gadgets such as AirPods and the Apple Watch, decreased less than 1 per cent compared to a 4.4 per cent drop predicted.

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