Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2018 first quarter that ended December 30, 2017. The company posted quarterly revenue of $88.3 billion, an increase of 13% from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.89, up 16%, also an all-time record. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The average selling price of the iPhone hit approximately $796.42; this was the highest ever for the smartphone. Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones, compared to 78.3 million in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales were up slightly year-over-year from 13.1 million to 13.2 million. However, Mac sales dipped slightly from 5.4 million to 5.1 million.
“We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone lineup. iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” said CEO Tim Cook in a press release. “We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30% in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.”
“Thanks to great operational and business performance, we achieved all-time record profitability during the quarter, with EPS up 16%,” added Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri. “Cash flow from operations was very strong at $28.3 billion, and we returned $14.5 billion to investors through our capital return program.”
- Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2018 second quarter:
- Revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion;
- Gross margin between 38% and 38.5%;
- Operating expenses between $7.6 billion and $7.7 billion;
- Other income/(expense) of $300 million;
- A tax rate of approximately 15%.
Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.63 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on February 15, 2018 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 12, 2018.
