Apple on Tuesday reported earnings that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations and the giant new-media company said it will double the amount of money it gives back to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock repurchasing.
Apple also offered up lackluster guidance, but traders shrugged that off and bid shares higher. During the regular session, Apple stock rose two percent to $406.13 and after the closing bell it advanced another five percent.
The company said it earned $10.09 per share in the fiscal second quarter, representing a rare decline for the company as it earned $12.30 a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was $43.6 billion, up from $39.2 billion.
Apple sold 19.5 million iPads during the quarter, up from 11.9 million a year earlier and 37.4 million iPhones, up from 35.1 million. It sold slightly less than four million Mac computers, whereas it sold four million a year ago.
For the current quarter, Apple forecasts revenue of up to $35.5 billion while Wall Street expected closer to $38.3 billion.
Apple increased its dividend 15 percent to $3.05 a share and said it will hike its share repurchase program by an additional $50 billion.
In a conference call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook touted new products, including one with the potential to spur growth, but he wasn’t specific.
“This is the same culture that brought the iPhone and the iPad, and we’ve got a lot more products in the works,” he said.
