Apple Q1 2020 revenue rises by 9 percent to $91.8 billion, forecasts up to $67 billion in quarter ending March

Apple has announced financial results for Q1 2020 ending 28 December 2019. The company posted quarterly revenue of $91.8 billion, an increase of 9 percent from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record. International sales accounted for 61 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Apple reported earnings per share of $4.99, compared with analyst estimates of $4.55 per share. Apple’s earnings were partially powered by iPhone revenue, which was up 8 percent thanks to the new iPhone models to $55.96 billion. The number of active iPhones, computers and other devices owned by customers, called Apple’s installed base, grew by 100 million to more than 1.5 billion over the past year. Apple executives set a new target of 600 million paid subscribers for music, TV, gaming and other services by the end of the calendar 2020. [caption id=“attachment_7889121” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Apple logo. Image: Reuters[/caption] “We are thrilled to report Apple’s highest quarterly revenue ever, fueled by strong demand for our iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, and all-time records for Services and Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “During the holiday quarter our active installed base of devices grew in each of our geographic segments and has now reached over 1.5 billion. We see this as a powerful testament to the satisfaction, engagement and loyalty of our customers — and a great driver of our growth across the board.” (Also read:  Amid coronavirus outbreak in China, Apple limits travel to 'business-critical situations' ) In a press release sent out by Apple, the company provided the following guidance for its fiscal 2020 second quarter:

• revenue between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion
• gross margin between 38.0 percent and 39.0 percent
• operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.7 billion
• other income/(expense) of $250 million
• tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent

“Our very strong business performance drove an all-time net income record of $22.2 billion and generated operating cash flow of $30.5 billion,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned nearly $25 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $20 billion in share repurchases and $3.5 billion in dividends and equivalents, as we maintain our target of reaching a net cash neutral position over time.” However, **Apple CEO Tim Cook told _Reuters_**  that the company could not make enough AirPods and Apple Watch Series 3 devices to meet demand during the fiscal first quarter and continues to be short on both. With inputs from Reuters.