Consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) late Tuesday smashed Wall Street's targets for its fiscal first quarter and guided higher for the current quarter. The Apple earnings news drove shares higher in extended trading.
XThe Cupertino, Calif.-based company earned $4.99 a share on sales of $91.82 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 28. Analysts expected Apple earnings of $4.54 a share on sales of $88.4 billion in the holiday quarter. On a year-over-year basis, Apple earnings rose 19% while sales climbed 9%.
"We are thrilled to report Apple's highest quarterly revenue ever, fueled by strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, and all-time records for services and wearables," Chief Executive Tim Cook said in the Apple earnings news release.
He added, "During the holiday quarter our active installed base of devices grew in each of our geographic segments and has now reached over 1.5 billion. We see this as a powerful testament to the satisfaction, engagement and loyalty of our customers — and a great driver of our growth across the board."
Apple Earnings, Guidance Push Apple Stock Higher
For the current quarter, Apple expects revenue of $65 billion, based on the midpoint of its guidance. It did not give a target for earnings per share. Wall Street predicts Apple earnings of $2.81 a share on sales of $62.3 billion in the March quarter. In the year-earlier period, Apple earned $2.46 a share on sales of $58.01 billion.
Apple stock jumped 2.2% in after-hours trading following the earnings release. During the regular session on the stock market today, Apple stock rose 2.8% to 317.69.
On Monday, Apple stock fell 2.9% to 308.95 on concerns that the coronavirus outbreak in China could negatively impact production and sales there. On Friday, shares hit a record high of 323.33.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor companies.
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