Apple posted an earnings beat for the fiscal third quarter ended on July 1, 2023, as record services revenue mostly offset declines in iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales.
For 2Q, the company reported earnings per share of $1.26, up 5% from the year-ago quarter and ahead of the Street expectation of $1.19. Revenue fell 1% year-over-year to $81.8 billion, which was also ahead of estimates of $81.36 billion.
However, iPhone, iPad, and Mac revenue all declined year over year at $30.7 billion, $5.8 billion and $6.8 billion down from $40.7 billion, $7.4 billion, and $7.2 billion respectively. This represented declines of 2%, 20% and 7%.
Apple did achieve services revenue of $21.2 billion, up 8% from $19.6 billion in the second quarter of 2022 and above the Street estimate of $20.7 billion.
CEO Tim Cook noted the strength in the company's services segment during 2Q was driven by more than 1 billion paid subscriptions, adding "And we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone."
Apple shares fell 2.4% in extended trading to US$186.65.
“Our June quarter year-over-year business performance improved from the March quarter, and our installed base of active devices reached an all-time high in every geographic segment,” Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in a statement.
“During the quarter, we generated very strong operating cash flow of $26 billion, returned over $24 billion to our shareholders, and continued to invest in our long-term growth plans.”
Additionally, the company declared a dividend of $0.24 per share payable on August 17, 2023, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 14, 2023.
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