Apple beat Wall Street analysts’ sales and earnings forecasts for the September quarter despite a tough earnings season.
September quarter revenue overcame fears that demand for the latest iPhone series was weaker than anticipated.
Sales
Apple posted revenue of more than $90 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter, up 8% from the same period last year.
In addition, revenue reached $20.7 billion, a gain of less than 1% from the same quarter in the year before.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri also released a statement:
“Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively in spite of a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop.”
Following the report, the company’s shares fell more than 1% after hours.
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Apple products
Sales of the company’s products increased 9% year-over-year to nearly $71 billion.
The growth shows a decrease in the growth rate compared to the previous year, but it was already expected.
Consumers are currently grappling with fears of a possible recession amid high inflation.
Meanwhile, the significant dollar value still raises doubts about Apple’s success in convincing international users to upgrade their devices.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company set an iPhone sales record on an analyst call in September.
Services segment
Apple’s service segments posted revenue of $19.2 billion, up 5% from the quarter a year ago and a year-over-year decline.
The Services segment includes paid subscriptions, such as Apple TV+ and Apple Music.
It is a powerhouse for Apple and compensates for the slow growth of Apple’s hardware business.
According to Maestri, subscriptions to paid services are more than 900 million.
Last year, there were only 155 million paid subscriptions.
Read also: Flash report: EU looking to phase out Apple’s Lightning connector in favor of USB-C
Raised prices
The company raised the prices of its music and TV streaming services this week to boost sales.
Investing.com analyst Jesse Cohen issued a bullish statement, saying:
“Like other major tech companies, even Apple is suffering from the negative impact of a worsening macro backdrop and ongoing supply chain woes.”
“Though, it has done a better job of navigating through the challenging environment,” Cohen added.
According to Luca Maestri, Apple expects revenue growth to slow in the December quarter from a year earlier.
He cites the strength of the US dollar and continued macroeconomic weakness as factors behind the slowdown in growth.
Reference:
Apple is weathering the economic downturn better than fellow tech giants
