by winston » Sat May 11, 2024 10:58 am
not vested
Apple Inc. (AAPL) – 1Q Earnings
Prior to Apple’s earnings, shares had fallen 10% this year, primarily due to the company’s iPhone sales tanking in Asian markets. So, investors were closely watching Apple’s results for its fiscal second quarter to look for signs of the company regaining momentum.
Apple’s second-quarter results exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company reported earnings of $1.53 per share on $90.75 billion in revenue. Analysts expected $1.50 per share in earnings on $90.1 billion in revenue.
A bright spot for Apple was their services revenue. It hit $23.87 billion, a slight beat and also an all-time record.
What’s more, Apple announced a monster buyback plan. Specifically, it plans to spend $110 billion on share repurchases, marking it the largest in US history.
And to further reward investors, the company is raising its quarterly dividend for a 12th consecutive year.
The board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share, an increase of 4%. All shareholders of record on May 13 will receive the dividend on May 16.
The positive earnings report and new share buyback program boosted AAPL 7% higher on Friday, May 3.
Now, I should add that investors have been waiting on pins and needles to hear the company’s plans for AI. The tech giant has remained tight-lipped on the subject, causing investors to worry that Apple may be falling behind its tech rivals, such as Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet.
CEO Tim Cook partially addressed those concerns in the company’s conference call. Here’s what he said:
We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI, and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era including Apple's unique combination of seamless hardware, software, and services integration; groundbreaking Apple silicon with our industry leading neural engine; and our unwavering focus on privacy.
On Tuesday, Apple gave investors a taste of this by unveiling its latest iPad Pros with the company’s all-new M4 processor. It has a new 16-core neural engine that is said to be more powerful than any neural processing unit out there. Apple quickly noted they have been adding the M4’s neural engines to its processors for years.
The reality, however, is that what investors really want to know are the company’s plans for AI as it relates to the iPhone. And we may only know whether Apple has gotten its mojo back for sure when the company holds is Worldwide Developer Conference in June. That’s traditionally one of the windows in which Apple makes big product announcements.
Source: Investor Place
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"
