Apple Q2 Profit Tops Street, To Buyback $100 Bln Shares

(RTTNews) - Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) earnings and revenues for the second quarter trumped Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, driven largely by strong sales of new iPhone X. The tech giant also said it has kept aside an additional $100 billion to buy back shares.

Apple sold 52.22 million iPhone units during quarter, generating $38.03 billion in revenues, up from 50.76 million units and $33.25 billion in revenues last year. Wall Street were expecting iPhone sales to be about 53 million units.

"We're thrilled to report our best March quarter ever, with strong revenue growth in iPhone, Services and Wearables," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter. We also grew revenue in all of our geographic segments, with over 20% growth in Greater China and Japan."

Apple's bottom line continues to be buoyed by iPhone sales, as it contributes about two-thirds of Apple's revenues and a major part of its profit.

Apple reported second-quarter profit of $13.82 billion or $2.73 per share compared with $11.03 billion or $2.10 per share last year. Analysts had expected the company to earn $2.69 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Apple said its revenues rose 16 percent to $61.14 billion from last year's $52.90 billion. Thirty-one analysts had a consensus revenues prediction of $60.98 billion.

International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter's revenue, Apple said in a statement.

Looking forward to the third quarter, Apple expects revenue between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion. Analysts currently project revenues of $52.04 billion.

The company also raised its dividend by 16 percent and approved a new $100 billion share buyback plan.

AAPL closed Tuesday's trading at $169.10, up $3.84 or 2.32% on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $6.54 or 3.87% in the after-hours trade.