Current:Home > Contact-usApple ends yearlong sales slump with slight revenue rise in holiday-season period but stock slips-LoTradeCoin
Apple ends yearlong sales slump with slight revenue rise in holiday-season period but stock slips
View Date:2024-12-23 20:30:09
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple snapped out of a yearlong sales funk during its holiday-season quarter, propelled by solid demand for the latest model of its iPhone and still-robust growth in a services division facing legal threats that could undermine its prospects.
The modest revenue growth announced Thursday as part of Apple’s October-December results ended four consecutive quarters of year-over-year sales declines. But the performance still may not be enough to allay recent investor concerns about Apple’s ability to rebuild the momentum that established it as the most valuable U.S. publicly traded company.
After years of holding that mantle, Apple recently ceded the top spot to its long-time rival Microsoft, which has been elevated largely through its early leadership in artificial intelligence technology.
Apple is hoping to shift the narrative back in its favor with Friday’s release of its Vision Pro headset that transports users into a hybrid of physical and digital environments — a combination the company is promoting as “spatial computing.” But the first version of the Vision Pro will cost $3,500 — a lofty price tag analysts expect to constrain demand this year.
“We are committed as ever to the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a Thursday statement accompanying the quarterly results.
Despite recurring worries that Apple may be entering a period of slower growth compared with its track record over the past 20 years, the Cupertino, California, is still thriving.
Apple’s revenue for its most recent quarter rose 2% from the same time in the previous year to $119.58 billion. The company earned $33.92 billion, or $2.18 per share, a 13% gain from the same time last year.
As usual, the iPhone accounted for the bulk of Apple’s revenue. Sales of the company’s marquee product totaled $69.7 billion in the past quarter, a 6% increase from the same time in the prior year. Those results include the latest iPhone that came out in late September, including a premium model that includes a special video recording feature designed for playing back on the Vision Pro.
Apple’s services division, which is tied largely to the iPhone, posted an 11% rise in revenue from the previous year to $23.12 billion.
Both the revenue and earnings for the quarter exceeded analysts’ projections, according to FactSet Research.
But investors appeared unimpressed with the showing as Apple’s stock price dropped 1% in extended trading after the numbers came out.
While it has been consistently generating double-digit revenue growth, Apple’s services division is under legal attack. The results of the legal challenges could siphon away a significant chunk of revenue flowing from a search deal with Google and commissions collected through the iPhone app store when consumers complete digital transactions on the device.
Apple’s agreement to make Google the default search engine on the iPhone and Safari browser — a deal that brings in an estimated $15 billion to $20 billion annually — is the focal point of antitrust case brought by the U.S. Justice Department that will shift into its final phase in May. Another antitrust case brought by video game maker Epic Games and new regulatory rules in Europe already have forced Apple to revise its commission system in the iPhone app store, although critics say the concessions are illusory and are pledging to push for even more dramatic changes.
The past quarter also pointed to faltering sales in China, a major market for Apple and an area that investors have been fretting about because of that country’s weakening economy and reports that the government there may prohibit its workers from buying iPhones. Apple’s revenue in China dropped 13% from the previous year to $20.82 billion.
veryGood! (25765)
Related
- Jelly Roll goes to jail (for the best reason) ahead of Indianapolis concert
- Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers want to make public statements about stolen money. FBI says Murdaugh lied
- College basketball coaches March Madness bonuses earned: Rick Barnes already at $1 million
- Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ reinforces her dedication to Black reclamation — and country music
- Utah AD Mark Harlan rips officials following loss to BYU, claims game was 'stolen from us'
- A timeline of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
- Home Depot acquires SRS Distribution in $18 billion purchase to attract more pro customers
- Democrat who campaigned on reproductive rights wins special election for Alabama state House seat
- Pedro Pascal's Sister Lux Pascal Debuts Daring Slit on Red Carpet at Gladiator II Premiere
- Last coal-burning power plant in New England set to close in a win for environmentalists
Ranking
- Opinion: Chris Wallace leaves CNN to go 'where the action' is. Why it matters
- Taylor Swift's father will not face charges for allegedly punching Australian photographer
- Watch as Florida deputies remove snake from car's engine compartment
- Candace Cameron Bure Details Her Battle With Depression
- Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr. leaves in wheelchair after banging head on court
- TikTok artist replicates 21 Eras Tour stadiums where Taylor Swift has performed
- Jamie-Lynn Sigler, multiple sclerosis and the wisdom she's picked up along the way
- For-profit school accused of preying on Black students reaches $28.5 million settlement
Recommendation
-
Democratic state leaders prepare for a tougher time countering Trump in his second term
-
Tax return extensions: Why you should (or shouldn't) do it and how to request one
-
Florence Pugh gives playful sneak peek at 'Thunderbolts' set: 'I can show you some things'
-
Photos released from on board the Dali ship as officials investigate Baltimore bridge collapse
-
Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
-
Ship that smashed into Baltimore bridge has 56 hazmat containers, Coast Guard says no leak found
-
Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn’t meant to kill?
-
Draymond Green ejected less than four minutes into Golden State Warriors' game Wednesday