Syed Imran Haider 
The quarterly results and forecast of Apple Inc. managed to beat modest expectations, as it announced a record buyback program that sent its stock price up by 6%.
There was a 4% increase in the cash dividend and it also unveiled an additional program to buy back stock worth $110 billion. This is the largest buyback program in the company’s history.
The results
There was a decline in the iPhone maker’s quarterly revenue, but it was considerably less than what analysts had expected.
Tim Cook, the CEO, stated that the current quarter would see revenue growth return. The company has faced stiff competition in the smartphone market, along with regulatory challenges.
However, the guidance and results indicate that it might be regaining its footing once more. The rise in Apple’s share price after the report saw its stock market value increase by more than $160 billion.
According to Apple, its fiscal second quarter revenue recorded a decline of 4%, which saw it drop to $90.8 billion. It was higher than analyst expectations of $90.1 billion.
The current quarter will end in June and Cook said that they expect to see overall revenue grow ‘low single-digits’.
Challenges
Even though Apple is considered a must-own stock, it has been underperforming in recent months as compared to other Big Tech companies.
This year saw it record a drop of 10%, as the company has struggled with tough competition in China and weak demand for its iPhones.
The American smartphone giant is facing a number of challenges across its business. Competing devices have been introduced by rivals like Samsung Electronics that host artificial-intelligence chatbots.
As far as regulatory issues are concerned, its services business, which includes the lucrative App Store, is under pressure due to a new law in Europe.
In March, the Department of Justice in the US also accused Apple of driving up prices and monopolizing the smartphone market.
The decline
There was a 10.5% drop in iPhone sales in the second quarter to $45.96 billion, while analysts had expected $46 billion.
In February, Apple executives had said that a surge in iPhone sales had led to a $5 billion benefit in last year’s fiscal quarter, as the company had managed to address the supply chain issues.
If that phenomenon is excluded, then there was only a slight decline in iPhone sales. As the signature product of the Cupertino, California-based company is facing stiff competition.
Huawei Technology has managed to gain significant market share in China. According to Cook, there had been growth in iPhone sales in some markets, including China.
The revenue decline of the company in China did not turn out to be as steep as expected. The sales experienced a decline of 8.1% to reach $16.37 billion, while analysts had expected them to be $15.59 billion.
Apple has not talked much about artificial intelligence, even though rivals like Google and Microsoft are betting heavy on this technology.
Last year, the company saw its research and development spending surge and Cook disclosed that in the last five years, Apple has spent more than $100 billion on R&D.
