SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2026, 06:04 PDT
Apple Inc ticked up ahead of the Friday bell, with shares last at $271.35, up 0.3%, after the company issued a June-quarter sales forecast that topped expectations and rolled out a new $100 billion buyback. The upbeat guidance and repurchase plan seemed to counter worries over chip shortages and a CEO transition.
It’s all about timing. These results land as the first real market pulse since Apple announced Tim Cook is moving up to executive chairman and John Ternus, the current hardware chief, steps in as CEO on Sept. 1. That puts every cue around product demand, supply, and artificial intelligence—AI that powers or helps with everything from code and images to text—under extra scrutiny.
Apple reported fiscal Q2 revenue of $111.2 billion, marking a 17% increase year over year. Diluted earnings per share hit $2.01, up 22%. CEO Tim Cook pointed to the company’s strongest-ever March quarter, citing “extraordinary demand” for the iPhone 17 lineup and yet another record in services. Apple
The iPhone still drives Apple’s results. Revenue from the device landed at $56.99 billion—just missing the $57.21 billion consensus—after production snags affected chips powering the new models, according to Reuters. “Off the charts” is how Cook described demand to Reuters, though he noted Apple’s supply-chain options weren’t as wide open as usual. Reuters
Mac revenue chipped in too. Apple pulled in $8.4 billion from Macs—topping forecasts of $8.02 billion—thanks in part to a few weeks’ worth of sales from the new MacBook Neo. The lower-priced laptop targets a slice of the market that’s been dominated by Google Chromebooks.
The June-quarter outlook did most of the heavy lifting, outshining the actual earnings beat. Apple’s forecast calls for fiscal third-quarter revenue growth between 14% and 17%, easily clearing analysts’ 9.5% target. Gross margin is pegged at 47.5% to 48.5%.
Apple’s services division—covering the App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud—hauled in $30.98 billion, topping what analysts had penciled in. Over in Greater China, revenue reached $20.5 billion, another beat, and a bit of a cushion for Apple amid tough competition from local phone makers pushing hard on both price and features.
Apple bumped up its quarterly dividend by 4%, taking it to 27 cents per share. Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh noted that operating cash flow topped $28 billion in the March quarter. The board signed off on a fresh $100 billion buyback authorization.
Apple tweaked its balance-sheet strategy as well. The company dropped its previous target of staying net cash neutral—no longer insisting that cash and debt balance out after borrowings. D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria called the change a possible sign of increased flexibility and suggested it could reflect Parekh’s “new approach to treasury management.” Reuters
Still, the quarter came with caveats. Cook cautioned that rising memory prices will start biting from June. IDC’s Nabila Popal flagged a looming dilemma for Apple: how much of its pricing muscle can it really flex before risking share? “The key question” boils down to balancing price hikes against margins, Popal said. Reuters
Regulators aren’t letting up. Apple has turned to a New Delhi court, aiming to block an Indian antitrust investigation into its iPhone app marketplace. The country’s competition watchdog wants Apple’s financial data—information that could set the stage for penalties. According to Reuters, Apple warned it might be hit with fines as high as $38 billion.
The clock’s ticking for Ternus. Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is set for June 8-12, and the company promises a focus on AI, software, and developer tools — exactly where investors are looking for signs Apple can catch up to Microsoft and Alphabet, but still stick to its tight spending playbook.
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