Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw marked 10 percent fall in iPhone sales in the March quarter to $45.96 billion from $51.33 billion y/y, with the Chinese market specifically underperforming. Despite this, the tech giant beat Wall Street estimates, sending its stock up more than 6 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday. This was on the back of Apple's all-time record revenue from its Services segment, $23.9 billion, a significant 14 percent increase from last year.
The company also announced an $110 billion stock repurchase plan, significantly higher than the $90 billion it set aside last year. During the earnings call, Tim Cook highlighted that the company had replenished iPhone channel inventory and worked down a significant amount of pent-up demand in the December quarter from COVID-related supply shocks. This helped boost last year's March quarter revenue by about $5 billion, which was a one-time benefit that was not included in this year's quarter.
Cook also said during the call that the removal of this one-time benefit from last year's results would have indicated strong growth in the March quarter's total revenue for this year. For the Mac product category, the company recorded $7.5 billion, which was a relatively small 4 percent increase y/y. However, the iPad category recorded a decline of 17 percent y/y, amounting to $5.6 billion, which was due to tough comps from a relatively strong December quarter that featured the launch of the M2 iPad Pro and the 10th generation iPad.
Cook added that the new iPad was "more versatile than ever" and highlighted greater video editing and music creation, as well as other resources for creative professionals. Further, Apple confirmed that there would be new iPads issued the following week, marking the first refresh of its tablet lineup since 2022. And in what's been widely rumored, the company is reported to be in talks with potential partners such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and OpenAI to integrate advanced AI features into its device lineup.
A sign of confidence in Apple's future and the perceived value of its stock came when CFO Luca Maestri announced a new $110 billion authorization for share repurchases. And the company is increasing its quarterly dividend for the twelfth consecutive year.
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