Apple Inc’s fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 36 percent on blistering sales of Macintosh computers — and beat Wall Street estimates — but its stock dipped on a lower-than-expected profit forecast.
The Mac and iPod maker is believed to be especially vulnerable to slowing consumer spending in the US because of its stronger presence here than overseas and because many of its products carry a premium price tag.
Those fears have contributed to a 20 percent decline in Apple’s stock price since the start of the year.
PHOTO: AP
But the company has traditionally issued conservative financial forecasts, and sales in the US were particularly strong in the latest quarter, rising 40 percent over last year.
So many investors were left scratching their heads about how to interpret Apple’s guidance.
Apple shares fell US$1.18, or less than 1 percent, to US$161.71 in after-hours trading, climbing back from a dip of nearly 5 percent right after the close of trading and the release of the earnings report. The shares had closed up US$2.69, or 1.7 percent, at US$162.89, during the regular session.
“The stock was all over the place, but I thought it was a great quarter,” said Jane Snorek, senior analyst of technology stocks at First American Funds.
“The most important part is that the Apple consumer seems to be immune to economic weakness,” she said.
“This is a very US-centric story. The guidance could have been horrendous. They could have said they were seeing pricing pressure, or the stores weren’t doing well. But I see it as, I’m perfectly safe buying the stock now,” she said.
The Cupertino, California-based company earned US$1.05 billion), or US$1.16 per share, in its second quarter, which ended on March 29. That’s US$0.09 per share better than what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting on average.
During the same period last year, Apple earned US$770 million, or US$0.87 per share.
Revenue jumped 43 percent in the period to US$7.51 billion — also beating Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts were predicting Apple would rake in US$6.96 billion.
Apple said this year brought the strongest sales and earnings performance during the March quarter in Apple’s history.
Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, would not specifically address in an interview how Apple might be affected by slowing domestic consumer spending, but he noted that Apple’s sales growth overall is expected to continue accelerating, a sign the company is faring well despite the economic downturn.
The company forecast profits for the fiscal third quarter of US$1 per share, short of the US$1.10 per share in the average analyst estimate and at the low end of what all analysts polled were expecting.
The company expects sales of about US$7.2 billion, slightly above the US$7.16 billion Wall Street was expecting.
Apple sold 2.29 million Macintosh computers during the second quarter, a 51 percent jump over a year ago.
The company sold 10.6 million iPods during the quarter, 1 percent higher than last year, and 1.7 million iPhones.
Apple executives reiterated the company’s goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS