Apple Posts Record Earnings with $97 Billion Revenue, Expects Slowdown in Next Quarter

Apple reported on Thursday its strong quarter-end results despite shortages of supplies; however, it warned that the slowdown in growth would likely worsen. Apple said that it is trying to find adequate chips that can meet the demand and is fighting COVID-related shutdowns in factories in China that make iPhone phones as well as other products.

Although the initial results from the January-March timeframe exceeded analysts’ estimates, the positive results quickly became shadowed by the management’s warning of danger ahead in a conference call.

The key takeaway is that Apple’s sales will be hit due to supply issues much more severely in April-June than in the preceding one. Apple estimates that it will be hit with a revenue loss of between $4 billion (roughly the equivalent of Rs. 30,615 crores) up to $8 billion (roughly around Rs. 61,230 crores).

“It will affect most of the product categories,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts.

The price of Apple’s stock fell by 4 percent during extended trading, turning around an optimistic reaction after the Apple report was first released. Before the sobering outlook, it reduced the shares further; Apple stock was down 10 percent from its peak at the beginning of January.

“It was a solid quarter, but it looks like COVID has reared its ugly head,” said Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk. “It looks like it’s two steps forward, one step back.”

In the same way as a range of businesses ranging from automobile manufacturers to health providers, Apple has been struggling with problems with computer chips and other essential technology components needed for modern technology.

Apple had hoped for the crunch to ease as the year progressed. However, the recent COVIDs epidemics are beginning to slow the production of Chinese factories, which Apple relies on.

Despite these headwinds, January to March showed an empire that is still growing, generating huge profits that have given the company an estimated $2.7 trillion (roughly 2 trillion rupees. 2,06,651,125 million) market value. This is the highest in the world of US firms.

Apple announced the increase of 5 percent to its quarterly dividend, increasing steadily since the company reinstated the payment more than a decade ago. Starting on May 12, Apple’s next quarterly dividend is at 23 cents (roughly 20 rupees). 20) per share. This is more than double what it was 10 years prior.

If it weren’t for supply issues, Apple would still be confronting the same issues that plague other large technology companies. After a surge in pandemic-related growth and a booming market, it’s now becoming more challenging to maintain the same level of spectacular growth that brought tech companies’ stock prices to record-setting levels. The crisis is slowly fading disappear, and the growth rate is becoming harder to sustain on a year-to-year basis.

Apple’s latest quarter has illustrated the huge obstacles Apple’s Cupertino, California, company is currently trying to overcome. The total revenue for the quarter was $97.3 billion (roughly the equivalent of Rs. 7,44,710 crore); however, it was just 9 percent higher than a similar period in the previous year. This was one of the few times that Apple hasn’t had double-digit increases in its year-over-year revenue in the last seven quarters. This number, however, overcame the median estimate at $94 billion (roughly 719,410 crores). 7,19,410 crore) from analysts polled through FactSet Research, which suggests that the slowdown in the growth of Apple hasn’t been as drastic as analysts had expected.

The profit for the quarter was $25 billion (roughly 1,91,330 crore) or Rs. 1,91,330 crore) that’s $1.52 (roughly 120 rupees). 120) per share, a six percent rise over the same period last year. Analysts had anticipated profits per share at $1.42 (roughly 110 rupees). 110).

As is the norm, as always, the iPhone is Apple’s most popular product, with revenues of $50.6 billion (roughly the equivalent of Rs. 3,87,105 crore) during the last quarter – which was a 5 percent increase over the same period in the year before. Apple is trying to maintain its iPhone sales up while its chips are scarce by stealing some of the components from the iPad, which saw sales decline by 2 percent in the same period last year, in the quarter to $7.6 billion (roughly about Rs. 58,140 crores).