After the closing bell yesterday, technology giant Apple Inc. (AAPL – Free Report) reported its fourth-quarter fiscal 2018 results wherein it topped both earnings and revenue estimates but provided weak guidance for the holiday quarter. The company also announced major changes to its reporting structure.
Apple Q4 Results in Focus
Earnings per share came in at $2.91, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12 cents and improving 41% from the year-ago earnings. Revenues grew 20% year over year to $62.9 billion and edged past the estimate of $62.5 billion. This represents the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth.
The impressive results were driven primarily by a 29% increase in iPhone revenues and a 17% increase in revenues from the service unit, which includes iTunes, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Pay and Apple Care. Though Apple sold 46.9 million iPhones in fiscal fourth quarter, slightly up from 46.7 million units in the year-ago quarter, higher prices continue to drive overall iPhone revenues. Revenues of other products, such as Apple TV, Watch and AirPods, increased 31%, Mac revenues grew 3% while iPad revenues dropped 15%.
Notably, Apple’s services have been growing for years and could become the company’s main revenue generator as iPhone sales plateau. The gadget-maker foresees revenues in the range of $89-$93 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The midpoint is below the current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $91.32 billion.
On its earnings call, Apple said that the company will no longer break out individual sales numbers for iPhone, iPad and Mac starting next quarter. The three main product lines will be wrapped into one reported revenue figure.
Market Impact
Following the results, shares of Apple dropped below its historic $1 trillion market cap, falling as much as over 7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 44%), suggesting significant upside over the coming days. Further, Apple flaunts a solid Growth and Momentum Score of B each.
