iPhone X drives Apple growth past analyst expectations

Apple has reported its quarterly results for the three months ending June 30, collecting an eye-watering $585 million in revenue a day over the period.

Total revenues stood at $53.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17%, with iPhone X sales and the services business unit leading the charge with year-on-year rises of 20% and 31% respectively compared to the same period of 2017. While it might have been a slow-start for the ridiculously expensive flagship device, the premium seems to compensated for slightly jaded 1% increase in smartphone shipments.

“We’re thrilled to report Apple’s best June quarter ever, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth,” said CEO Tim Cook. “Our Q3 results were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline.”

“Our strong business performance drove revenue growth in each of our geographic segments, net income of $11.5 billion, and operating cash flow of $14.5 billion,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We returned almost $25 billion to investors through our capital return program during the quarter, including $20 billion in share repurchases.”

Looking deeper into the business, Cook pointed towards first time buyers of the iPhone as a win, while the services unit brought in record revenue of $9.5 billion. Paid subscriptions from Apple and third parties have now surpassed $300 million, an increase of more than 60% in the past 12 months, while the CEO also claims the App Store generated nearly twice the revenue of Google Play so far in 2018.

Services is a significant growth area for the iChief, which seems to be able to print cash with whatever it touches (except original content… who remembers Shark Tank). Apple Music grew by over 50%, AppleCare revenue grew at its highest rate in 18 quarters, and Cloud services revenue was also up over 50%. When you also tie in the wearables division, which finally seems to be making progress, its smart speaker reaching new markets, Siri improving and products like Apple TV gaining a bit of traction, Apple is giving a perfect lesson in exploiting customer loyalty.

Looking forward, the Apple train looks like it will continue to print off cash. For the next quarter, the team expects revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion, compared to $52.6 billion brought in during Q4 2017, with a gross margin between 38% and 38.5%.