Apple managed to surpass Wall Street’s expectations for its second fiscal quarter for 2020.
For the three months ending on March 28, Apple reported $58.3 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $2.55. International sales accounted for 62% of the quarter’s revenue. Apple also recorded a record $13.3 billion in services revenue, which helped to make up for a decrease in product sales for iPhone, iPad and iMacs.
In February, the company admitted that its revenue would be below the $63 to $67 billion it had previously forecast. Analysts had expected the tech giant to pull in $54.5 billion, with an EPS of $2.26.
“Despite COVID-19’s unprecedented global impact, we’re proud to report that Apple grew for the quarter, driven by an all-time record in Services and a quarterly record for Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In this difficult environment, our users are depending on Apple products in renewed ways to stay connected, informed, creative, and productive. We feel motivated and inspired to not only keep meeting these needs in innovative ways, but to continue giving back to support the global response, from the tens of millions of face masks and custom-built face shields we’ve sent to medical professionals around the world, to the millions we’ve donated to organizations like Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund.”
Apple’s revenue in Greater China fell 6.7%, to $9.46 billion, as many stores were closed during the quarter. China was hit by the pandemic months earlier than the U.S. since the novel coronavirus originated in the city of Wuhan in late 2019. On March 13, all stores outside of China closed, wheras stores inside China have begun to reopen in recent weeks. “Given the lack of visibility in the near-term, we will not be issuing guidance for the coming quarter,” Cook said during a call with analysts. He added they’re much more optimistic about the long-term outlook.
For the second consecutive quarter, Apple’s earnings release did not provide any subscriber information for Apple TV+, the company’s streaming service launched in November. There were no questions about it from analysts on the call.
Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.82 per share of the Company’s common stock, an increase of 6 percent. The dividend is payable on May 14 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 11. The board of directors also authorized an increase of $50 billion to the existing share repurchase program.