Apple Stock Jumps As iPhones, Emerging Markets Power Q2 Earnings Beat, Dividend Boost
Apple shares rose on Friday after the company reported higher-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, driven by impressive sales of iPhones in emerging markets.
The tech giant reported iPhone sales revenues of $51.33 billion, up 1.5% from the previous year, which was boosted by the sale of high-end iPhone Pro models during the holiday season.
This growth helped to offset declines in Mac and iPad sales, as well as a 3% decline in revenues from China. Apple’s earnings for the three months ending in March came in at $1.52 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by 9 cents.
Although group revenues were still down 2.5% from the previous year at $94.84 billion, CFO Luca Maestri noted that gross margins were expected to improve to between 44% and 44.5% in the June quarter.
Maestri credited the global success of the iPhone and strong sales in emerging markets for helping to offset macroeconomic challenges. In particular, Apple’s push into India resulted in record revenues estimated at $6 billion for the March quarter.
Sales in Mexico, Indonesia, and the Philippines also hit record highs as the company’s installed base of devices surpassed 2 billion worldwide.
