Apple this afternoon reported fiscal Q1 revenue and profit beat analysts’ expectations by a very wide margin.
The results sent Apple stock lower initially in late trading, though the stock is rallying and now up slightly.
CEO Tim Cook remarked that the results “wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless and innovative work of every Apple team member worldwide” and said the company was “gratified by the enthusiastic customer response to the unmatched line of cutting-edge products that we delivered across a historic holiday season.”
Added Cook, “We are also focused on how we can help the communities we’re a part of build back strongly and equitably, through efforts like our Racial Equity and Justice Initiative as well as our multi-year commitment to invest $350 billion throughout the United States.”
CFO Luca Maestri said results were “fueled by double-digit growth in each product category, which drove all-time revenue records in each of our geographic segments and an all-time high for our installed base of active devices.”
Added Maestri, “These results helped us generate record operating cash flow of $38.8 billion. We also returned over $30 billion to shareholders during the quarter as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”
It was the first report by the company since the iPhone 12 series of devices were introduced on October 23rd, which went on sale November 6th. Other product highlights in the quarter included introduction of the new iPad Air; the M1 chip, and new Mac computers using it; and the AirPods Max headphones.
For the three months ended in December, revenue rose to $111.4 billion, yielding EPS of $1.68.
Analysts had been modeling $103.27 billion in revenue and $1.42 per share.
Sales rose across all geographies for Apple, but notably, sales were up 57% in the Greater China region, at $21.313 billion, making up 19% of sales.
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Apple stopped reporting its iPhone unit sales last year, but Wall Street sill compiles its estimates every quarter. Analysts have been writing about record quarterly sales, with the average estimate at 76 million iPhones sold.
iPhone revenue came in at $65.6 billion, topping expectations of about $60 billion.
Apple’s revenue from services rose by 24%, year over year, to $15.76 billion, making up 14% of revenue.
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Alongside actual products last quarter, rumors and news tidbits emerged suggested Apple is developing a car, working on foldable phone screens, and high-end VR goggles.
Apple will host a conference call to discuss the financial results with Wall Street analysts at 2 pm, Pacific/5 pm, Eastern, this evening, and you can catch it on the company’s investor relations Web site.
Apple shares fell almost 1% after-hours to $140.72 before rising slightly to $142.25.
