Apple has posted a quarterly revenue of $90.8 billion in the first three months of the year, down 4 per cent year-over-year as the iPhone maker faces an uncertain economic environment in China.
However, company executives have projected a positive outlook for the year while announcing a $110-billion share buyback programme, the largest in the company’s history.
A bright spot for the company has been its performance in India. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the earnings call: “We did grow strong double-digit (in India). It was a new March quarter revenue record for us. I see it as an incredibly exciting market and it’s a major focus for us. In terms of the operational side or supply chain side, we are producing there, from a pragmatic point of view, you need to produce there to be competitive.”
The company managed to beat Wall Street expectations despite sales of its flagship iPhone being down 10 per cent from the year ago period to $45.96 billion from $51.3 billion. Apple announced Mac sales increased 4 per cent to $7.5 billion and a services revenue of $23.9 billion (up from Q2 2023’s $20.91 billion), beating analyst estimates.
Replying to a question about growing sales in emerging markets, Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said: “When we started looking at places like India, Saudi, Mexico, Turkey, of course, Brazil and Mexico and Indonesia, the numbers are getting large, and we’re very happy because these are markets where our market share is low, the populations are large and growing. And our products are making a lot of progress in those markets.”
Cook is bullish about the road ahead, given the opportunities new generative artificial intelligence features bring to boosting hardware sales and promised more detail “in the weeks ahead”, hinting at announcements at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, set for June 10.
Another bright spot for Apple in the coming days is a press event on May 7 where it is largely expected to introduce a revamped iPad lineup and related accessories. The company said it expects its iPad business and services to grow in double digits.
Buyback plan
The iPhone maker on Friday unveiled a record $110-billion share buyback programme, sending its stock up 6 per cent in extended trade. Apple’s massive buyback may appease investors who have been bruised by its sinking stock price.
“It’s certainly a great time to resort to this strategy as the stock remains relatively fairly priced and it also needs to garner solid support for a structural shift that may take several quarters to play out,” Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro said in a client note.
