Apple Announces Record Share Buyback, Amid iPhone Sales Decline

Apple’s second quarter results were not as bad as many had expected, and the iPhone maker sought to appease worried investors by announcing a record share buyback scheme.

Apple posted its second quarterly results after CEO Tim Cook had in February lowered forecasts of iPhone shipments for Q2, amid a concerning sales decline in China – not helped by renewed competition from the likes of Huawei.

And the Q2 financials revealed a number of challenges for Tim Cook, as Apple recorded sales declines in nearly all geographic regions, with its entire product portfolio bringing in less revenue, with the exception being its Mac and Services segment.

Second quarter financials

So how bad were the results, and why did Apple’s share price rise after the financials were posted?

Well for the second quarter ending 30 March, Apple posted a still very healthy net profit of $23.6 billion, but this was down from the $24.2 billion profit it posted a year earlier.

And total revenues were down 4 percent to $90.7bn (beating analyst estimates of $90bn), compared to the $94.8bn it had posted in the same year-ago quarter. This is the biggest fall in revenues for Apple for more than a year.

Indeed, the iPhone maker recorded revenue declines in all its geographic regions, with the sole exception being Europe.

And there was pretty much bad news across most of Apple’s product lines, with quarterly revenue from iPhone sales down 10.5 percent to $45.9bn from $51.3bn; iPad sales down to $5.6bn from $6.7bn; and revenues from wearables, home and accessories down to $7.9bn from $8.8bn.

However revenue from services was up to $23.9bn from $20.9bn; and revenues from Mac sales were up at $7.5bn from $7.2bn, thanks to strong sales of the M3 powered Macbook Air.

Share buyback

Apple’s share price however rose 6 percent in extended trading.

This could be explained by the fact that the results were not as bad as Wall Street had been expecting, and that Apple’s board of directors has authorised a record program to repurchase up to $110 billion of the company’s common stock.

The buyback is the largest in the company’s history, and it is worth remembering that Apple’s shares have underperformed other big tech companies in recent months.

Indeed, Apple’s share price has fallen 10 percent this year.

“Today Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8 billion for the March quarter, including an all-time revenue record in Services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “During the quarter, we were thrilled to launch Apple Vision Pro and to show the world the potential that spatial computing unlocks.”

“We’re also looking forward to an exciting product announcement next week and an incredible Worldwide Developers Conference next month,” said Cook. “As always, we are focused on providing the very best products and services for our customers, and doing so while living up to the core values that drive us.”

Apple on 7 May is expected to unveil a much needed refresh for its iPad portfolio, which has been criticised by industry observers for being overly cluttered and confusing, coupled with disappointment at the limited capabilities of iPad OS considering the power of Apple’s inhouse processors.