Apple (AAPL) reported top- and bottom-line results for the fiscal second quarter that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
The Cupertino, California-based company delivered earnings of $2.46 per share, beating expectations for $2.37 per share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue totaled $58 billion for the March quarter, also surpassing consensus estimates for $57.49 billion.
Revenue from iPhones totaled $31.05 billion, down from the $37.6 billion the company reached in iPhone sales in the year-ago quarter, but higher than the $30.5 billion that consensus analysts were expecting. Revenue in this segment comprised 53.52% of total second-quarter sales, a smaller percentage than in the quarter prior, as Apple has gradually been shifting away from relying on its flagship devices to bolster top-line results.
Shares of Apple jumped 5.52% to $211.81 each as of 4:32 p.m. ET.
The tech titan also posted better-than-anticipated sales guidance for its fiscal third-quarter: Apple sees revenue totaling between $52.5 billion and $54.5 billion for the current period, higher than the $52.2 billion consensus analysts were expecting. The company reported that its board authorized an additional $75 billion for its stock repurchase plan and raised its cash dividend by 5% to 77 cents per share.
Over the past several months, shares of Apple have bounced back to rise more than 40% from January’s 21-month low, which was hit after the company guided toward a decline in first-quarter results on account of weaker iPhone sales.
Management at the time attributed the guide down to sales weakness especially in China – a geography which comprised nearly a fifth of Apple’s full-year 2018 sales. Sales in China dropped 21.5% year-over-year in the fiscal second quarter, after falling 26.7% in the quarter prior.
With its hardware sales on the decline, Apple’s new modus operandi has been to leverage its existing network of more than one billion total active installed devices to build out a robust software ecosystem.
“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,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement. “We delivered our strongest iPad growth in six years, and we are as excited as ever about our pipeline of innovative hardware, software and services.”
Sales in Apple’s services segment grew 16% year-over-year to $11.5 billion, hitting a new record.
Apple made a major public push to advance its Services-driven image at the end of March with a dedicated special event, during with the company unveiled a new Apple-branded credit card as well as TV streaming, gaming and news subscription offerings. Each of these new products is set to help funnel revenue into the company’s service segment, which comprised 19.7% of total sales in the fiscal second quarter, a larger proportion than in the quarter prior.
The reaction among the investor community following Apple’s March 25 presentation was tepid – shares were down about 1.2% the day of the event. But Apple still had yet to provide some key details on pricing for many of these new Services offerings, which will help the investment community situate the company in relation to competitors like Disney, which recently priced its own new streaming platform at a competitive $6.99 per month.
Shares of Apple have risen 6.3% since the March 25 special event, and are up 27% for the year-to-date.
This post is being updated.
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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck
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