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Apple unveiled a solid income growth on Thursday when the company is preparing for a few tumultuous months to sail in the fallout from President Donald Trump's pricing war with China.
The company declared a turnover of $ 95.4 billion for the quarter ending on March 29, up 5% over a year and slightly above consensual estimates of $ 94.6 billion. Net profit was 24.8 billion dollars, also slightly beating estimates of $ 24.5 billion and up 5% over the same period for the previous year.
The results reflect the period before Trump announced his prices of “Liberation Day” on April 2, which sent Apple Sharing slippery. The iPhone manufacturer, with its supply chains concentrated in Asia, is strongly exposed to a trade war with China.
The iPhone revenues, the flagship product of Apple, were $ 46.8 billion, up 2% over one year.
Chinese income has dropped slightly at $ 16 billion, down 2.4%, reflecting the competitive challenge that Apple was faced with local smartphones manufacturers in the last quarters. His service company, which includes the ICP Store, iCloud and Apple Pay, continued to show strong growth, increasing from 12% to 26.6 billion dollars.
Apple's shares fell by around 2% in the event of hours-time negotiation on Thursday.
Apple’s financial director Kevan Parekh told Financial Times that there had been no sign of a short -term increase in consumer demand to get ahead of April prices.
“For the March quarter, we do not think we have seen solid evidence of the traction request that had an impact on our results,” said Parekh.
Apple, he said, had “worked hard to optimize the supply chain and stocks” during the quarter to mitigate the potential impact of prices.
In China, the company had noted an improvement compared to the previous quarter in its results, noted Parekh, the “almost stable” sales when adjusting changes in foreign currency. Sales in Apple China fell 11% over a year during the previous quarter.
Apple has ceased to offer guidance figures written during the coronavirus pandemic, but investors want to understand how Trade tensions could have an impact on Apple's activities in the coming months and if it could ultimately increase its prices.
In its initial response, Apple has gone to increase IPhone assembly in India to avoid the steepest prices.
While the administration temporarily exempt smartphones from its “reciprocal” prices of 125% on China, Apple is still affected by a tariff of 20% existing on Chinese imports.
He could also see other prices later this year pending the results of a national security survey on semiconductors and electronic products that contain them.
The Apple board of directors approved a 4% increase in its dividend and up to $ 100 billion in share buybacks, largely in accordance with the previous year.
