Apple Q2 revenue beats market expectation to hit $58 bln

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Apple Inc. said Tuesday that it has generated revenue of 58 billion U.S. dollars for its fiscal 2019 second quarter, down five percent from the year-ago quarter, but its earnings beat market expectations of about 57.4 billion dollars.

In a report on its financial results for the fiscal second quarter ending on March 30, 2019, the company said its quarterly earnings per diluted share declined by 10 percent to stand at 2.46 dollars, and international sales made up 61 percent of the quarter's revenue.

We generated operating cash flow of 11.2 billion dollars in the March quarter and continued to make significant investments in all areas of our business, said Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri.

Chief Executive TimCook said the company has set a new quarterly record as its revenue from services, including Apple Music, the App Store and other businesses, reached 11.5 billion dollars for the second quarter of 2019.

Our March quarter results show the continued strength of our installed base of over 1.4 billion active devices, as we set an all-time record for Services, and the strong momentum of our Wearables, Home and Accessories category, which set a new March quarter record, he said.

Apple said it has spent 27 billion dollars on share buybacks and dividends during the second quarter, and it will set aside 75 billion dollars for share repurchases.

The California-based company forecast its revenue will be between 52.5 billion dollars and 54.5 billion dollars for the fiscal third quarter of this year, with operating expenses standing between 8.7 billion dollars and 8.8 billion dollars.

Optimistic as iPhone price cuts help in China

Cook said iPhone sales had started to stabilize in China, a sign that Apple's price cuts there are helping limit sales declines.

Cook said price adjustments in China, along with lower Chinese taxes on the iPhone and the trade-in and financing deals Apple offered, helped iPhone sales start to recover toward the end of the quarter. Cook also said he is optimistic that the United States and China will soon reach a trade deal.

(CGTN)