News: Apple Reports Q1 Results

Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 first quarter ending December 28, 2019. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $91.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $4.99, up 19 percent, also an all-time record. International sales accounted for 61 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

If you recall from the fourth quarter results in October, Apple’s guidance followed a range format:

• revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion
• gross margin between 37.5 percent and 38.5 percent
• operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.8 billion
• other income/(expense) of $200 million
• tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent

Apple beat those estimates this quarter, as per the press release:

“We are thrilled to report Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, fueled by strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, and all-time records for Services and Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “During the holiday quarter our active installed base of devices grew in each of our geographic segments and has now reached over 1.5 billion. We see this as a powerful testament to the satisfaction, engagement and loyalty of our customers — and a great driver of our growth across the board.”

“Our very strong business performance drove an all-time net income record of $22.2 billion and generated operating cash flow of $30.5 billion,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned nearly $25 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $20 billion in share repurchases and $3.5 billion in dividends and equivalents, as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2020 second quarter:

• revenue between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion
• gross margin between 38 percent and 39 percent
• operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.8 billion
• other income/(expense) of $250 million
• tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.77 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on February 13, 2020 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 10, 2020.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2020 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on January 28, 2020 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.