Market Insight – Apple Earnings

Apple stock price rose after the bell on Wall Street after the tech giant reported quarterly sales and earnings that were better than analysts’ expectations.

The report showed that the company actually managed to grow its services business to weather a tough economy that saw Mac sales drop significantly.

Wall Street cheered this news as the consumer tech market has been struggling with the combination of weak demand and a glut of inventory. Plus, like Amazon, Apple is also a bellwether for the global economy.

Apple also noted that it saw particular strength in emerging markets, setting quarterly records in countries including Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as March quarter records in Brazil, Malaysia and India.

Breaking down the data, and Revenue came in are $94.8 billion, which was down 3% from a year ago and ahead of analysts’ expectations of around $93 billion.

However, Per-share earnings hit $1.52, which was unchanged from a year earlier and above expectations of about $1.43, hence why the report was well received.

In a breakdown of key sales for its product range, iPhone revenues hit $51.3 billion vs. $50.6 billion a year ago and iPad revenue were $6.7 billion vs. $7.6 billion a year ago.

Also, Mac revenues were $7.2 billion vs. $10.4 billion a year ago and the Services revenue for the tech giant hit $20.9 billion vs. $19.8 billion in the prior year.

Wearables, accessories and home revenue, which is seen as somewhat of a luxury and not what most analysts particularly looks at, hit $8.76 billion vs. $8.8 billion a year earlier.

CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We are pleased to report an all-time record service and a March quarter record for iPhone despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, and to have our installed base of active devices reach an all-time high.”