Apple offers modest growth outlook after iPhone sales help beat profit expectations

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Apple's AI-enhanced iPhone made a strong start, pushing quarterly sales ahead of Wall Street expectations, but a modest revenue forecast raised questions about whether that momentum will hold over the holiday sales season.

A decline in China sales during the fourth quarter also concerned some analysts and investors, helping send shares down 1.4% in after-hours trade, despite surprisingly large overall profit and revenue in that period.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told analysts during a conference call that Apple expects overall revenue to «grow low to mid single digits» during its fiscal first quarter, which ends in December. Analysts had expected revenue growth of 6.65% to $127.53 billion during the quarter, according to LSEG data.

Apple did say it expects double-digit growth in its services business in its first quarter, leading some analysts to ask executives during a call if overall hardware revenue might decline.

Executives did not address that question, or give any indication of how the iPhone might fare, including in China, where Apple's new AI features are not available. Apple has not said when they will be available.

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