Apple shares were a touch easier in after hours trading despite reporting a record holiday quarter, buoyed by strong demand for its new generation of iPhones.
The company reported net profit of $US20.1 billion, up from $US17.9 billion a year ago, but the shares were sold off a touch for a weak first quarter forecast.
Analysts though were not happy with the forecast for the current second quarter for the giant – revenue of $US60B-$US62B in the current quarter, against analysts’ forecasts for more than $US65 billion.
"iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” said Apple CEO, Tim Cook.
“We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30 percent in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.”
Apple reported revenue of $US 88.3 billion for its first quarter of its 2017-18 financial year – above analysts’ estimates of $87.28 billion and much better than the $US78.6 billion for the same quarter of 2016
iPhone unit sales were not a record, and in fact were below last year’s holiday quarter. iPhone unit sales 77.3 million (against 78.3 million a year ago) for revenue of $US61.6 billion in the quarter
China sales were $17.96 billion, which is a good sign for Apple’s China business.
iPad unit sales: 13.2 million; Mac unit sales: 5.1 million; software and services revenue: $US8.5 billion; other products revenue: $US5.5 billion.
Analysts said that was a miss on iPads and Macs, but “Other products,” sold much better than expected, suggesting that Apple Watch and Beats headphones sold well in holiday shopping
