iPhone 11 propels Apple to another record-breaking quarter

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apple earnings
Apple's money-making machine is on a new level.
Photo illustration: Steve Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s first earnings report of 2020 saw the company hit a new all-time record for revenue made in a quarter thanks to stronger than expected iPhone sales.

The iPhone-maker brought in $91.8 billion during the holiday quarter which has the stock soaring in after-hours trading. Worries over how the coronavirus in China might affect Apple’s production throughout 2020 had Wall Street worried yesterday and based on Apple’s guidance for Q2 2020, the company doesn’t seem overly concerned it will have a big impact on profits yet.

“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,” said Tim Cook in a statement. “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’s historic Q1 2020 earnings

Apple shattered its own guidance of $85 billion to $89 billion for the quarter. Quarterly iPhone revenue came in at $55.96 billion compared to $51.98 billion during the same quarter last year. The company’s guidance range forecasts more growth next quarter with revenue predicted to come in between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion.

Today’s earnings report didn’t mention how well Apple TV+ is doing, but the company’s Services category brought in $12.7 billion for the quarter. Wearables also performed well with $10 billion in revenue while the Mac brought in $7.1 billion and the iPad earned $5.9 billion.

“The iPhone numbers are obviously great,” said Eric Ross, Chief Investment Strategist at Cascend Securities. “The results in the services part of the business, I would have liked to have been a little bit more (up 17%) because that’s really where the longterm annuity-type, high margin revenues are going to come from.”

Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed that $25 billion was returned to shareholders during Q1 2020. The company’s board of directors have declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of Apple’s common stock.

More details to follow…

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