Apple Q1 Earnings Not Enough for Investors

February 1, 2018 by Chris Lange

Source: courtesy of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported fiscal first-quarter financial results after markets closed Thursday. Although Apple beat its estimates for this quarter, it wasn’t enough for investors who promptly sent the shares lower in the after-hours session. It just goes to show that in order to keep pushing higher, some companies have to keep knocking it out of the park.

The iPhone giant said that it had $3.89 in earnings per share (EPS) and $88.3 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $3.86 in EPS and $87.28 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $3.36 in EPS and $78.35 billion in revenue.

The product sales breakdown came out as:

  • iPhone shipped 77.32 million units for $61.58 billion in revenue, up 13% year over year.
  • iPad shipped 13.17 million units for $5.86 billion in revenue, up 6%.
  • Mac shipped 5.11 million units for $6.90 billion in revenue, down 5%.
  • Services revenues grew 18% year over year to $8.47 billion.
  • Other Products revenues grew 36% to $5.49 billion.

In terms of the guidance for the fiscal second quarter, Apple expects to see revenues in the range of $60 billion to $62 billion, with a gross margin in the range of 38.0% to 38.5%. There are consensus estimates calling for $2.84 in EPS and $65.73 billion in revenue for the coming quarter.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, commented:

We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone lineup. iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November. We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30 percent in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.

Shares of Apple closed Thursday at $167.78, with a consensus analyst price target of $189.78 and a 52-week range of $127.78 to $180.10. Following the announcement the stock was initially down 1.5% at $165.14 in the after-hours trading session.

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