Apple’s Earnings Were Mostly In-Line with Forecast, Now Company’s Major Focus is AI Application

After today’s lukewarm (but not disastrous as many feared) quarterly results, it became apparent that amid the ongoing artificial intelligence craze, Apple (AAPL) faces company-specific issues that impact its valuation prospects. Apple reported Q3 FY revenue of slightly over $90 billion. For the period ended March 30, Apple earned $1.53 per share, with revenue falling 4.3% YoY to $90.75 billion, including $45.96 billion in iPhone revenue. Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.50 per share on $90.33 billion in revenue.

Across the product groups, total product sales were US$66.89 billion, basically in line with expectations. Apple's Mac business revenue was US$7.45 billion, posting an annual increase of 3.99% and exceeding analysts' expectations of US$6.79 billion. Also at the top of analysts' forecasts was Apple's services business, which grew 14% from the same period last year, with revenue of $23.87 billion in the period, above forecasts of $23.28 billion.

Going forward, as it was mentioned above, artificial intelligence could be Apple's next big step in strengthening its prospects for sustainable long-term growth. Apple is currently expected to release a major update on its artificial intelligence strategy at its annual WWDC event in June.