Apple is one of the few companies whose stocks Wall Street rarely sees a dip. However, the company once headed by Steve Jobs surprised watchers when they posted their 2017 Q2 revenues. The tech firm revealed earnings of $52.9 billion, an impressive sum that falls short of market expectations.
This number owes a lot to the sale of iPhones, of which Apple sold only 50.8 million units for 2017 Q2. Compared to last year's 51.2 million units, this year's second quarter sales is almost half a million short. Nevertheless, though the company sold fewer units of their flagship product, they earned more due to the high demand of the more expensive iPhone 7 Plus.
According to CNet, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the demand for the device has been "robust." However, the Cupertino-based company cannot deny that their sales have declined. This is largely due to a big number of iPhone users who do not wish to upgrade their current devices to new releases. Further, there are those who remain watchful whether the next smartphone offering would be a better buy compared to what is already available in the market. In fact, this may be the case with iPhone 8, the tenth-anniversary device that has the smartphone niche talking.
All these have led to Apple's shares going down 1.8% after trading hours to sell at $144.88. This might be a blow to the company, but their trading price is still vigorous.
Still, the company has to brace for a rough third quarter. Apple said they expect revenues between $43.5 billion to $45.5 billion in the coming three months. This expectation, Quartz writes, is about a 3% increase compared to the $42.3 billion earnings for the same time period last year.
This revenue expectation, coupled with the recent 2017 Q2 dip, is below what Wall Street analysts estimated. And that is why Apple's shares took a dive after trading hours. But Cook and Co. might be able to turn the odds in their favor as 2017 goes on. It is rumored that the company has big plans for the iPhone's tenth anniversary. Plus, they are thought to be working on an Amazon Echo-like product based on Siri and AR glasses.
