After three quarters in a row of double-digit revenue growth and a 30% year-over-year increase in earnings per share in Apple‘s (NASDAQ: AAPL) most recent quarter, the bar was set high going into the company’s third-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings release. But Apple still managed to deliver some impressive numbers, including another quarter of accelerating revenue growth and a 40% increase in earnings per share.
Here’s a look at the top- and bottom-line results, as well as other key takeaways from the quarter, including accelerated year-over-year growth rates in iPhone revenue, big numbers from services and other products, and more.
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Apple third-quarter earnings: The raw numbers
Apple’s third-quarter revenue was $53.3 billion, up 17% year over year and at the high end of management’s guidance range for third-quarter revenue of between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion. Net income increased 32% year over year, but EPS saw outsize growth of 40%, thanks to Apple’s aggressive share-repurchase program.
Speaking of Apple’s share repurchases, management said it bought back $20 billion worth of its own shares, bringing Apple’s total repurchases in the last two quarters alone to a stunning $43.5 billion.
Segment results
Apple’s iPhone segment continued to benefit from a successful iPhone 8- and iPhone X-fueled product cycle, with iPhone revenue surging 20% year over year, up from 14% growth in Q2. A higher average selling price for Apple’s iPhones was the primary driver for this higher segment revenue, as iPhone unit sales only increased 1% year over year during the quarter.
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Apple’s services and other products revenue sustained their impressive momentum. Apple’s second largest segment, services, saw revenue rise 31% year over year to $9.5 billion, while other products revenue soared 37% to $3.7 billion.
Two segments, however, saw revenue decline on a year-over-year basis. iPad and Mac both saw revenue decline 5% year over year.
Apple notably saw strong growth in each of its major geographic segments, with the lowest year-over-year growth rate coming in at 7% for Japan and the fastest growth at 20% in the Americas.
Overall, the record third quarter was driven primarily by “strong sales of iPhone, Services, and Wearables,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook about the quarter in the company’s third-quarter earnings press release.
Looking ahead
Management is clearly optimistic about its fiscal fourth quarter — a quarter that typically benefits from a few weeks of sales of new iPhones after they’re launched in the fall. Management guided for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion, up from revenue of $52.6 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. The midpoint of this guidance range represents 16% year-over-year revenue growth.
Looking ahead, Cook said Apple is “very excited about the products and services in our pipeline.”
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Daniel Sparks owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
