Apple sped right past Wall Street’s expectations for its second fiscal quarter of 2021.
For the three months ending on March 27, Apple reported $89.6 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.40 — well above the Wall Street expectations of $77.35 million in revenue and 99 cents per share. That revenue figure is up 54% year-over-year and was a record for a March quarter.
Apple hit a new high in revenue from its services and Mac sales in the quarter, with more than $9 billion in Mac sales. Services revenue totaled nearly $17 billion in the quarter, and iPhone sales were also strong, with $47.9 billion in revenue (up dramatically from the $28.9 billion in the year-ago quarter). International sales accounted for 67% of the quarter’s revenue.
“This quarter reflects both the enduring ways our products have helped our users meet this moment in their own lives, as well as the optimism consumers seem to feel about better days ahead for all of us,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said. “Apple is in a period of sweeping innovation across our product lineup, and we’re keeping focus on how we can help our teams and the communities where we work emerge from this pandemic into a better world. That certainly begins with products like the all-new iMac and iPad Pro, but it extends to efforts like the 8 gigawatts of new clean energy we’ll help bring onto the grid and our $430 billion investment in the United States over the next 5 years.”
“We are proud of our March quarter performance, which included revenue records in each of our geographic segments and strong double-digit growth in each of our product categories, driving our installed base of active devices to an all-time high,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO, added. “These results allowed us to generate operating cash flow of $24 billion and return nearly $23 billion to shareholders during the quarter. We are confident in our future and continue to make significant investments to support our long-term plans and enrich our customers’ lives.”