Apple released its financial results on Thursday, revealing that overall revenue has declined due to weak iPhone sales.
However, profits exceeded market expectations, and Apple shares rose in after-hours trading. “Apple reported sales of $90.8 billion in the March quarter, including a long time ago in services,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement ahead of the conference call. This includes the highest sales record.”
The iPhone maker’s revenue was $90.8 billion, down 4% from a year earlier, but ahead of its expected profit of $90.1 billion. The company announced a cash dividend of $0.25 per share, an increase of 4%. iPhone sales were $45.96 billion, down 10% from the same period last year, compared to Wall Street’s expectations of $46 billion. The company also reported that its board of directors has approved $110 billion in stock repurchases.
“Over the long term, we think Apple’s move to a services business model is a strong approach to offset its reliance on iPhone sales performance,” said Thomas Hasson, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. .
Apple overtook Samsung late last year to become the world’s largest smartphone provider. Capture about 20% Top in global market share. However, Apple’s smartphone shipments declined in the first quarter of this year due to the rise of Chinese competitors such as Huawei. Samsung’s shipments declined less than Apple’s, but I got it back It ranks first among smartphone manufacturers in the first months of 2024.
During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, Cook and Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri answered several questions about the company’s performance in China. Demand in the country is down, but earnings reports showed the situation is not as dire as many investors feared.
Cook also said that Apple will make “significant investments” in generative AI in the next quarter, similar to similar announcements in recent weeks by Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta. He repeatedly brought up artificial intelligence, claiming the MacBook Air was “the best consumer laptop for AI.”
“We remain very bullish about the opportunity in the generative AI space,” Cook said on the conference call. “We have made significant investments and look forward to sharing something very exciting with our customers in the near future.”
Like many major technology companies over the past year, Apple has cut jobs in several departments and laid off a significant number of employees. The company halted a 10-year project to produce self-driving electric cars in February and laid off about 600 employees last month following the announcement. The car, codenamed “Project Titan,” is estimated to have cost Apple about $10 billion to develop. The company’s electric vehicle business has had a long history of turmoil, but the complete cancellation of the multibillion-dollar effort surprised both the public and Apple employees working on the project.
When the electric car project was scrapped, Apple executives also announced that the company would devote more resources to artificial intelligence projects. Apple poachs AI researchers from other technology companies such as Google. According to an analysis by the Financial Times, and has quietly established an AI research institute in Zurich.Apple also sells AI research paper It may predict new features of the phone.
Apple has been less public about its forays into generative AI than rivals like Microsoft and Google, but it has similarly poured money into hiring talent and acquiring AI startups. More plans to integrate generative AI into smartphones will be revealed later this year.
Apple’s first new gadget in a decade, the Vision Pro headset, was released in early February. The product hasn’t contributed significantly to Apple’s revenue, according to two recent earnings reports.
The company also faces a number of legal battles in the coming months, as regulators in the U.S. and Europe have imposed fines and filed antitrust lawsuits. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of “pervasive, persistent, and unlawful conduct” to establish its smartphone monopoly.
“Apple has put up barriers that make it extremely difficult and costly for both users and developers to step outside of the Apple ecosystem,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. said in announcing the lawsuit.
European authorities also fined Apple €1.8 billion for violating EU antitrust laws, accusing the company of preventing competition from other music streaming services through unnecessary restrictions on its app store. Apple has rejected complaints from European and U.S. regulators and vowed to fight lawsuits that violate its business practices.
Apple’s stock price has fallen in recent months, hovering around $170 a share, down from an all-time high of about $199 in December last year.apple stock Roses bloomed every day The announcement comes ahead of the earnings report after a prominent financial analyst at Bernstein upgraded the stock to forecast it will outperform current market expectations and encouraged people to buy Apple stock.
Cook ended his portion of the call by emphasizing Apple’s commitment to environmentally responsible business operations, which he said will lead to positive developments for the company’s future products.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the future that lies before us, driven by the imagination and innovation of our team and the enduring importance of our products and services in people’s lives,” said Cook. said.
