By Paresh Dave and Nivedita Balu
OAKLAND/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Apple Inc on Thursday posted record sales and profit for a fiscal second quarter, above Wall Street estimates, as the company managed the electronics shortage scenario and consumers bought new iPhones.
Sales rose 19% in the Americas and around single digits in Europe and China, the company said.
Apple shares rose 2.3% in post-market trading.
Apple, which is the world’s biggest company by market value, aims to keep demand for the iPhone and other products high while boosting sales of services, including music and video subscriptions.
The latest results show the company making progress on both goals, as it beat sales expectations for all units, with the exception of accessories.
Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri cited “continuous strong demand for our products” and record service sales.
Apple’s revenue for the quarter ended March 26 was $97.3 billion, up 8.6% from last year and higher than the average analyst estimate of $93.89 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
Worldwide quarterly revenue from cellphone sales was $50.6 billion, up 5.5% year-over-year and above the median estimate of $47.88 billion. The services business, Apple’s second-biggest segment after iPhones, saw sales rise 17% to $19.8 billion from an average forecast of $19.71 billion.
Apple’s earnings for the quarter were $25 billion, or $1.52 per share, and beat analysts’ expectations of $23.2 billion, or $1.43 per share.
Apple also announced a 5% increase in its dividend and board approval to repurchase an additional $90 billion in stock. Maestri said in an interview that the war in Ukraine had affected revenue in the face of Apple’s withdrawal from Russia, but declined to specify a figure. He said the impact on sales would be greater in the current quarter.
Asked about rising inflation, Maestri said demand, especially for iPhones, was higher than the company expected at the beginning of the quarter. Inflation was affecting spending, he said.
The executive cited that app store, music, cloud and Apple Care services set revenue records.
Apple said iPad sales dropped 2% to $7.65 billion due to supply chain restrictions. The numbers still came in above the average analyst estimate of $7.14 billion.
Revenue from Mac computers, which also faces supply chain issues, rose 14.7% to $10.4 billion, compared with an expected $9.25 billion.
Revenue from accessories including speakers and watches rose 18% to $8.8 billion, below estimates of $9.05 billion.
Apple said it now has 825 million paying subscribers across seven services, up 40 million from last quarter’s 785 million. The growth comes as rivals like Netflix report user losses.
