Apple Sees Biggest Rally of the Year After Sales Top Estimates
Apple Inc. rallied Friday after reporting a rebound in iPhone sales last quarter, helping the world's most valuable company top earnings estimates and weather an industrywide downturn that has battered much of its product lineup.
The shares jumped as much as 5.1% to $174.20, the biggest intraday gain since Nov. 30. They're now up 34% in 2023.
Overall revenue amounted to $94.8 billion in the fiscal second quarter, Apple said Thursday, exceeding the $92.6 billion analysts predicted. Though the sales fell 2.5% in the period, the company had warned investors to expect a drop of roughly twice that.
The results suggest that Apple is beginning to recover from a slump that's plagued both the computer and smartphone industries. It's a particular relief for investors after Qualcomm Inc., a key supplier, raised fresh concerns about phone demand earlier this week. Apple's sales in China — a weak spot for other tech companies — also came in a bit better than expected.
As expected, Apple announced plans for $90 billion in stock repurchases — the same as last year's plan. The company also raised its quarterly dividend 4% to 24 cents a share.
Though the performance was better than expected, it marked two straight quarters of sales declines — a first for Apple since the pandemic began. Earnings, meanwhile, were unchanged from a year earlier, at $1.52 a share. That compared with an average estimate of $1.43 a share.
On a conference call with analysts, Apple said that revenue in the current period would drop by a similar amount as in the past quarter, which ended April 1. That suggests a dip of about 3%. The company also said it would continue to see a negative impact from foreign exchange rates.
Apple generated $51.3 billion in sales from the
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