Apple CEO Tim Cook. The tech giant posted quarterly revenues of $59.7 billion, an increase of 11% from the same period a year ago. Image by Mandel Ngan / AFP.

TOPLINE

Apple is the world’s most valuable company and has managed to grow its profits even during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The company’s stock has gone up and is just about 6% away from being the first American and first tech company to reach the $2 trillion mark.

KEY FACTS

  • On July 30, Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 third quarter ended June 27. The company posted quarterly revenue of $59.7 billion, an increase of 11% from the same period a year ago.
  • The company’s flagship product continues to be the iPhone, with $26.4 billion coming from phone sales alone.
  • Apple sold $7 billion worth of Mac products and $6.4 billion of wearables, home, and accessories that include the earphones, watch, Apple TV, Beats, and HomePods.
  • The company has earned $13 billion from services, including app store sales as well as streaming services.
  • The company’s quarterly earnings per share was $2.58, up 18%. Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in its major segments, products and services, and growth in each of its geographic segments. The company earned $13.17 billion pre-tax profit and paid $1.9 billion in tax.
  • Apple will also benefit from the current weakness in the US dollar as 55% of Apple sales come outside of the US. A weak dollar helps Apple to increase its sales in dollar terms, as currently, the dollar is trading at a two-year low to a basket of global currencies.
  • The company is sitting on $191 billion in cash and marketable securities. Its investment in corporate debt securities stands at $80 billion, while another $30 billion is invested in US Government securities. The company also has $12.8 billion worth of mortgage and asset-backed securities.
  • Apple has achieved good performance at a time many consumer goods firms are struggling with lower sales due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Apple is now just about 6% away from becoming the first big tech company, $2 trillion for a while after its IPO
  • The tech giant confirmed that it would release its iPhone 12 this year, that will see a surge in sales, as is the case when the company releases any new version of their iPhone.

TANGENT

If cash is king, then the Big Tech companies are certainly kings. The five biggest tech companies are sitting on $580 billion of cash, enough to buy Tesla twice and 10 times that of Reliance Jio’s valuation. They have a combined market cap of more than $6.5 trillion, which is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of every country in the world, except for China and the US.