Apple's financial results impress Wall Street, Tim Cook promises AI growth
Apple investors welcomed the iPhone maker's latest earnings report, buying up the shares in 'afterhours' trading on Thursday.
Revenues came in ahead of Wall Street expectations for Apple's first quarter driven by demand in its services businesses - iCloud, Apple TV+, and Apple Music - whilst iPhone sales declined.
iPhone sales were down 10% decline, totalling $45.9 billion compared to $51.3 billion this time last year. In particular, Chinese iPhone sales fell more significantly.
Nevertheless, Apple's total revenue amounted to $90.8 billion which was down slightly compared to the same quarter last year but was comfortably better than Wall Street analysts had forecast.
Apple meanwhile said it was rewarding shareholders via a massive $110 billion stock buyback plan.
As with practically every 'big tech' company, Apple's results came with commentary indicating significant new investment in AI - even, though thus far Apple has appeared to be making less of an AI play compared to rivals Microsoft and Google.
Alongside the financial results chief executive Tim Cook promised more details about Apple's AI initiatives and upcoming product launches, including new iPads, at the company's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference which is scheduled for 10 June 2024.
Apple stock gained nearly 7% to trade at $184.61 on Thursday night.
Explore Bias
Financial media reporting mainly detailed the usual commercial metrics, whilst other outlets are more technology-focused narrative.
Among the financial reporting there was a notably optimistic tone, with an emphasis on the perceived 'outperformance' against expectations rather than scrutiny over declining hardware sales. AI headlines potentially distract from the more tangible aspects.
As with all immediate reporting of financial data, it often takes a day or so for more detailed analysis across financial media and the financial markets. Typically, such stories evolve more over a 24-48 hour period.
Explore More Stories
- "Apple Earnings See 10% iPhone Sales Drop" - TechCrunch
- "Apple Earnings Come In Hot—China Blow Less Painful Than Feared" - Forbes
- "Apple Sales Drop, Tim Cook Sees Return to Growth Amid AI Investment" - Reuters
- "Apple Suffers 10% Drop in Quarterly iPhone Sales to Start the Year, Biggest Drop Since Pandemic" - Yahoo! Finance / AP
- "Apple Earnings: Stock Shrugs Off Miss on iPhone Sales to Surge 7%" - MarketWatch
- "Apple’s earnings show that, yeah, it’s really time for some new iPad" - The Verge
