Vicky McKeever writes:
Shares in Apple hovered in pre-market trading on Friday despite the company reporting first quarter earnings that beat expectations, as investors questioned the durability of a sharp rebound in sales.
The iPhone maker posted earnings per share of $2.84 on revenue of $143.8bn (£105bn), compared with Bloomberg consensus estimates of $2.68 a share on revenue of $138.4bn. Revenue rose 16% from a year earlier.
iPhone revenue climbed 23% year on year to $85.27bn, which Apple attributed to strong demand for the iPhone 17 models launched in September. Sales in China, a key market for the company, jumped 38% over the period.
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, described the results as “a remarkable, record-breaking quarter” driven by “unprecedented [iPhone] demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment”.
The upbeat figures were met with a muted market response, however, as investors weighed concerns over rising costs, the sustainability of the sales surge and Apple’s AI strategy, which has suffered delays and the loss of senior staff to rivals.
Apple forecast revenue growth of between 13% and 16% year-on-year for the current quarter, ahead of Wall Street expectations of about 10%.