Apple increased its research and development budget to nearly $2.8 billion during the second fiscal quarter of 2017, meaning the company spent a almost $5.7 billion on the line item over the past six months.
As of the end of the March quarter, Apple held $256.8 billion cash on hand, with the vast majority of it held overseas awaiting possible repatriation tax reform — if the U.S. government is inclined to cooperate.
In a strong second fiscal quarter performance, both services and the "other" categories stand out, with 18 percent and 31 percent growth versus 2016, respectively.
After returning to growth for the holiday quarter, iPhone sales dipped once again in the March frame, though Apple's revenue grew to $52.9 billion. Following the news, the company held a conference call with media and analysts, and notes of interest follow.
Despite revealing mixed quarterly results on Tuesday, Apple simultaneously announced plans to extend its capital return program by $50 billion and a full year, reaching the $300 billion mark by March 2019.
Apple on Tuesday revealed the results of its second quarter of fiscal year 2017, earning $52.9 billion in revenue and posting year-over-year growth, but once again saw iPhone sales shrink from the same period a year ago.
As the NASDAQ opened on Tuesday morning, Apple's stock price at the opening bell drove its market capitalization above historical highs, with $800 billion in sight and possibly reachable before the quarterly earnings report.
Apple's stock price on Monday hit a new record at the close of business of $146.57, with the stock sitting less than a dollar away from beating the old market capitalization record set in 2015.
Apple's recently-concluded March quarter could see revenue once again increase year over year, investors on Wall Street believe, on continued strength of the flagship iPhone 7 lineup.
A new analyst report suggests that Apple should acquire long-time media partner Disney to smooth out seasonal concerns about earnings and make a massive end-to-end media development and delivery platform — but this is not the first time this unlikely scenario has been bandied about.
Eight Apple executives, including senior vice presidents Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi, saw batches of restricted stock units vest last week, six of which were worth some $13.6 million.
Apple on Monday announced plans to report quarterly earnings for the second fiscal quarter of 2017 on May 2, a key period that follows the company's record-breaking 2016 holiday quarter.
Apple's stock price on Tuesday hit a new record of $143.80, eclipsing the $1,000 per share pre-split benchmark, and if it keeps pace for the rest of the week will beat the company's old market capitalization record.
Buying in on hype for an anticipated 10th anniversary "iPhone 8" super-cycle, investment firm J.P. Morgan has raised its price target on shares of Apple to $165.
Estimates for Apple on Wall Street remain "way too low," in the eyes of analyst Timothy Arcuri, who believes that the combination of a new iPhone form factor with an aging install base could create a "powder keg" for shares of the company.
Wall Street forecasts for Apple stock are climbing, with another report claiming that the stock will hit $155 over the summer of 2017 on pre-release hype of the "iPhone 8" and continued expansion of the Services division that includes the App Store, Apple Music, and AppleCare.
An analyst claims that Apple is on track for its services business revenue estimates so far, and any large acquisitions it may make will just accelerate the growth driven by the iPhone 7, and successor "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 8" devices expected in 2017.
A new analyst report sees Apple outperforming an expanding premiums smartphone market, with the company garnering its highest market share in four years in the US, Japan, and Europe.
In spite of views by some investors and critics, Apple is an "antifragile monopoly" that can withstand competition from other giants in the high-tech sector like Amazon and Google, an analyst argued on Thursday.
Last February, Apple issued its first Green Bond, a $1.5 billion vehicle for investors seeking to put their capital to work on projects that will reduce the global human impact on climate change, help develop technology products using safer materials and work to conserve scarce resources. The company has now reported on a series of projects financed by those bonds last year.
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Mikey Campbell
Mike Wuerthele
Neil Hughes
Roger Fingas
AppleInsider Staff
Daniel Eran Dilger
