Apple underwhelms Wall Street with all-time record fourth quarter earnings
Following Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings report in which the company posted all-time record revenue of $94.9 billion (an average of more than $1 billion in revenue per day), Apple said that total sales in the December period will rise by a percentage in the “low-to-middle single digits.” Analysts had been projecting a 7% increase.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple Inc., heading into its most critical sales period of the year, sparked fresh concerns about revenue growth and lingering weakness in an intensely competitive China market… The concerns weighed on shares in late trading, sending them down about 2% [shares are down a further 2% in Friday’s pre-market trading]. The stock had been up 17% this year through Thursday’s close, fueled by optimism about Apple’s artificial intelligence prospects.
Overall revenue edged past Wall Street projections last quarter — helped by global iPhone demand — but the results show that the company is still struggling in a key market. Apple is competing with local brands in China, which serves as its main manufacturing hub.
Revenue in the region fell slightly from a year earlier to $15 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 28. Analysts had estimated $15.8 billion.
The iPhone grew in every geographic market, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said, signaling that the rest of the company’s product lineup may have been the issue in China, its biggest source of revenue after the Americas and Europe.
Total sales rose 6.1% to $94.9 billion, compared with an average estimate of $94.4 billion. Earnings were 97 cents a share, though they would have been $1.64 without a one-time charge related to a European General Court decision, Apple said.
MacDailyNews Take: Thank you for the early Christmas gift, Wall Street!
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