Apple Enjoys Blowout Third Quarter, Sales Up 11%

Brent Lang
·2 min read

Apple trounced Wall Street’s expectations with a blowout third-quarter earnings report.

The technology titan reported revenue of $59.7 billion for the June quarter, an increase of 11% from the $53.8 billion in revenue that Apple reported in the prior-year period. The company’s earnings per share of $2.58 was also an improvement on the $2.18 per share that Apple earned in the same period in 2019. Those numbers easily bested projections. Analysts had expected Apple to deliver revenue of $52.3 billion and earnings of $2.07 per share.

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The robust earnings picture is all the more impressive because it comes in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, a public health catastrophe that’s resulted in furloughs, layoffs and economic anxiety. And yet, despite the grim headlines, all of Apple’s product lines showed strong seals, particularly iPad and Mac sales, which had double-digit growth.

“In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said.

But a big question for Apple watchers was whether the company is on track to deliver its new 5G-enabled iPhone 12 in September. There was bad news on that front, with Apple CFO Luca Maestri saying “the supply of the new product will be a few weeks later than that.”

Apple also declared a cash dividend of 82 cents per share of the company’s common stock and announced that its board has approved a four-for-one stock split to make the stock (which closed at $384.76 per share Thursday) more accessible to investors. That will take place at the end of August.

Apple has been methodically rolling into the original content space, backing programs for its Apple TV Plus service like “The Morning Show” with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston and buying movies like “Greyhound” with Tom Hanks. On a call with analysts, Cook noted that the coronavirus crisis had delayed shooting on new programs.

“We are working to get restarted,” he said.

Shares of Apple surged in after-hours trading, topping out at over $408 per share. The company’s report comes during a busy day for tech earnings, with Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook all unveiling their quarterly results.

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