Apple reports double-digit gains in all product categories
Sales in China were up a strong 57% to $21.31 billion from last year’s $13.58 billion. Sales rose on an annual basis for all of Apple’s different sales regions including the Americas, Europe, Japan, and the rest of the Asian Pacific market.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri stated, “Our December quarter business performance was 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. 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.”
For the first time ever, Apple generated over $100 billion in sales by reporting gross of $111.4 billion, topping estimates of $103.28 billion. Net income was $28.76 billion or $1.68 per share.That beat EPS forecasts of $1.41 per share and was 34.4% higher than last year’s $1.25 EPS number.
Despite the strong quarter (and stronger than expected too) it appears that the stock might have run out of gas. During the regular trading session Apple’s shares declined $1.10 or .77% to $142.06 a share. After the report was released, Apple’s shares declined an additional $1.01 (or .71%) to $141.05. As it has done since the start of the pandemic, Apple did not give any guidance for the current quarter. Speaking of the pandemic, CEO Cook noted that the virus had kept revenue lower than it might have been. On CNBC the executive said, “Taking the stores out of the equation, particularly for iPhones and wearables, there’s a drag on sales.”
