Apple earnings top expectations, China revenue disappoints

In This Article:

Apple's (AAPL) fiscal first quarter results were better than analysts had been expecting. Adjusted earnings of $2.18 per share topped expectations of $2.11. Revenue was $119.58 billion versus the $117.97 billion estimate. Greater China net sales fell short of expectations, $20.82 billion compared to expectations of $23.5 billion.

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton report the breaking details.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

JOSH LIPTON: Apple's first quarter results are just now hitting the wire. Let's get right into those numbers. EPS $2.18, that is a beat. The Street was closer to $2.11. And importantly, revenue is up 2% to $119.6 billion. That is also a beat and does break that trend. So Apple returning to growth here on the top line. Also, critically, gross margins 45.9%, that is also better than expected.

And let's just turn quickly to the segments. IPhone clocks in at $69.7 billion, that is better than consensus. Services does come in a touch light, $23.12 billion. Street close to was around $23.4 billion there. Mac, $7.78 billion, iPad, $7.023 billion. Wearables home and accessories-- remember, that includes the watch, they don't break that out specifically. But that division, $11.95 billion. Street was around $12 billion. Greater China, $20.8 billion in the quarter. Consensus was closer to $23.5 billion. Remember, China was a bit of a concern heading into this print.

And one more data point we want to bring you here, Apple now saying their installed base of active devices has now surpassed 2.2 billion. That is also a very critical metric if you were an Apple investor. That's referring to the number of active devices in people's hands all around the world. That's important for future upgraders and important for people who want to subscribe to those services.

But bottom line, beats on the bottom and the top here, Julie. And, of course, now we wait for guidance on the call.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. And as we wait for guidance, we see the shares down 3/4 of 1%. I suspect that has something to do with those China revenues perhaps. That looks to me at first blush, like, the biggest source of miss here within the numbers. Yes, the overall revenue beat, but revenue in China at $20.8 billion is short of the 23 and 1/2 billion that some investors were looking for.

And this is not a shock, I don't think, because we had been getting reports in recent days that some of the shipments in China were looking perhaps a little bit lighter. And it's also not a shock, because, listen, we know what's going on in China, right? We know that there is--