Apple's AAPL.O quarterly results and forecast beat modest expectations on Thursday, as the iPhone maker unveiled a record share buyback program, sending its stock up 6 per cent in extended trade.
Apple's quarterly revenue fell, but less than analysts had expected, and CEO Tim Cook said revenue growth would return to the current quarter.
The results and guidance suggest the company may be regaining its footing in the smartphone market, despite stiff competition and regulatory challenges.
Apple expects current-quarter services and iPad revenue to grow by double digits, CFO Luca Maestri told analysts on a conference call. The company expects gross margins of between 45.5 per cent and 46.5 per cent for the fiscal third quarter.
For the fiscal second quarter, iPhone sales fell 10.5 per cent to $45.96 billion, compared with analyst expectations of $46 billion. Apple executives said in February that the year-ago fiscal second quarter had benefited from a $5 billion surge in iPhone sales as the company caught up from supply-chain snarls during pandemic lockdowns.
Cook said that iPhone sales still experienced "growth in some markets, including China."
"It's certainly a great time to resort to this strategy as, on the one hand, the stock remains relatively fairly priced, and, on the other hand, it needs to garner solid support for a structural shift that may very well take several quarters to play out," Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro said in a client note.
Apple's quarterly earnings per share were $1.53, above Wall Street estimates of $1.50, according to LSEG data.
