Apple FYQ1 Revenue Grows, Ending Sales Slump; IPhone Sales A Beat; Growth Slows In Greater China

Apple beat on the top and bottom line today but investors nudged the shares lower as sales fell and in China and the company didn’t deliver the blowout the Street seemed to want.

Revenue of $119.6 billion beat expectation was up for the first time after four quarters of declining sales, and above expectations —  Apple had told investors to expect revenue to be about flat with a year ago.

Earnings per share of $2.18 were higher than $2.11 anticipated and up from $1.88 the year before.

“Today Apple is reporting revenue growth for the December quarter fueled by iPhone sales, and an all-time revenue record in Services,” said CEO Tim Cook. “We are pleased to announce that our installed base of active devices has now surpassed 2.2 billion, reaching an all-time high across all products and geographic segments. And as customers begin to experience the incredible Apple Vision Pro tomorrow, we are committed as ever to the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation — in line with our values and on behalf of our customers.” “Our December quarter top-line performance combined with margin expansion drove an all-time record EPS of $2.18, up 16 percent from last year,” added CFO Luca Maestri.

“During the quarter, we generated nearly $40 billion of operating cash flow, and returned almost $27 billion to our shareholders. We are confident in our future, and continue to make significant investments across our business to support our long-term growth plans.”

Apple’s numbers – and Amazon’s and Meta’s, also reporting earnings today — are being closely watched after two big tech companies Alphabet and Microsoft disappointed the Street. Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company surged 50% last year but slowed in 2024 reflecting concerns in 2024 over softening iPhone sales growth and slower than hoped for AI development. They were down 2% in after-market trade.

IPhone sales of $69.7 billion were up from $65.8 billion and above consensus despite challenges in China, where Apple may be losing some sales to Huawei.

Total sales in greater China fell to $20.8 billion from $23.9 billion.

Services jumped but was a bit below forecasts. That division includes Apple TV+ as well as Apple Music, Apple News, Apple Arcade, Apple Books, Podcasts, Fitness and others. None are broken out. Sales of $23.1 billionm up from $20.8 billion.

Execs will break out the quarter in a call at 5 ET.

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