Apple demolished Wall Street forecasts in its fiscal third quarter, delivering revenue of $59.7 billion and earnings per diluted share of $2.58 billion.
Analysts’ consensus was for revenue of $52.25 billion, which would have been a slight dip from the same quarter a year earlier. Earnings per share were expected to come in at $2.04.
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Along with the financial results, the company said its board approved a four-for-one stock split “to make the stock more accessible to a broader base of investors,” according to the earnings release.
Each Apple shareholder of record at the close of business on August 24 will get three extra shares for every share held on the record date. Split-adjusted trading will begin on August 31.
Shares in Apple, which have risen sharply along with those of other tech companies during COVID-19, gained in after-hours trading, surpassing the $400 mark.
Investors are awaiting word on a key issue facing Apple heading into its big-money quarter, October to December. Due to the pandemic, it had said it was not able to ramp up production of its forthcoming iPhone, leaving doubt about whether it will be ready in time for the holiday season.
In the quarter ending June 27, Apple’s services unit continued to post strong growth, climbing to $13.2 billion from $11.5 billion in the year-ago period. With TV, music, apps, news, videogames and other businesses folded into services, the company has been trying to lessen its dependence on physical products, which can be cyclical and face greater pricing sensitivity.
To wit, sales of the iPhone — while still nearly half of the quarterly total — gained just 1% from a year ago to reach $26.4 billion.
International sales accounted for 60% of total revenue, the company said. The period also saw the widespread closures of retail locations in many countries due to COVID-19.
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