Apple sales up 11% in record-breaking Q3 earnings report

Apple logo on the side of a building
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Apple has announced its third-quarter financial results for its fiscal year 2020 and, despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, the tech giant has achieved quarterly revenues of $59.7 billion - an 11% year-over-year increase.

Along with its earnings report, the company also announced a four-for-one stock split, saying, “each Apple shareholder of record at the close of business on August 24th, 2020 will receive three additional shares for every share held on the record date.

Though Apple faced widespread retail closures during the quarter, the transition to remote work and strong online sales provided a healthy boost to Apple’s overall operations.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, explained that the first three weeks of April saw slow iPhone sales, but sales improved in May and June. Ultimately, iPhone sales grew by 2% with Q3 revenues from the smartphones totalling $26.4 billion.

The company is expected to announce a new lineup of iPhone 12 devices this fall, though coronavirus lockdowns in China and the US could delay shipments.

The iPad also had its best June quarter in eight years with revenue of $6.6 billion while the Mac brought in $7.1 billion in revenue. Apple attributed the boost in iPad and Mac sales to lockdown rules and an increase in remote learning.

Services, meanwhile, were up 14.85% from the year prior and earned Apple $13.16 billion during the quarter.

“Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our geographic segments. In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation,” Cook said of the earnings report.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri added: “Our June quarter performance was strong evidence of Apple’s ability to innovate and execute during challenging times.”

“The record business results drove our active installed base of devices to an all-time high in all of our geographic segments and all major product categories. We grew EPS by 18% and generated operating cash flow of $16.3 billion during the quarter, a June quarter record for both metrics,” Maestri continued.

Apple declined to provide earnings guidance for the fourth quarter due to uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.