After the US stock market, Apple announced its results for the first quarter.Revenue and profit both exceeded expectations, and the weakness in Greater China was not as bad as expected by the market.

Meanwhile, Apple announcedIn the future, up to $110 billion of additional common stock will be repurchased, making it the largest share repurchase program in the history of the United States.

Boosted by this, Apple's stock price surged about 7% after the market.

Performance was better than expected

Specifically, Apple's revenue was US$90.75 billion, down 4% year on year, better than market expectations of US$90 billion;

Net profit of US$23.636 billion, down 2% year on year, also better than the forecast of US$23.17 billion;

Diluted earnings per share were $1.53, the highest in history for the March quarter, higher than the $1.52 in the same period last year and market expectations of $1.5.

Among them,iPhone businessRevenue was US$45.96 billion, down 10.5% year on year, better than the forecast of US$45.76 billion.

Wearable device, home and accessories businessRevenue was US$7.91 billion, down 9.6% year on year, falling short of market expectations of US$8.29 billion.

Mac businessRevenue was US$7.45 billion, up 3.9% year over year, better than market expectations of US$6.79 billion.

iPad tablet businessRevenue was US$5.56 billion, down 16.7% year on year, falling short of market expectations of US$5.91 billion.

The service business has become the biggest growth highlight,Revenue was US$23.87 billion, a record high for five consecutive quarters, with a year-on-year increase of 14.2%, better than the forecast of US$23.28 billion.

Apple executives expect the percentage increase in service revenue over the next two quarters to remain in double digits.

In addition, revenue in Greater China was US$16.37 billion, down 8.1% year on year, better than market expectations of US$15.87 billion.

In response, Cook said, “I feel very good about China (market performance). I think more about long-term performance than next week. In fact, iPhone sales have increased in China, which may come as a surprise to some.”

Looking ahead to this quarter, Apple expects revenue growth to resume this quarter.Cook revealed that overall revenue is likely to grow at a lower single-digit percentage. The market forecast was $83.23 billion.

Major buybacks

Meanwhile, Apple announced the largest share repurchase plan in US history, saying that its board of directors approved an additional $110 billion share repurchase plan, an increase of 22% over the previous authorized repurchase amount of 90 billion US dollars, exceeding market expectations.

This amount broke the record for the largest repurchase value announced by Apple in the US. According to data from market research firm Birinyi Associates, in 2018, Apple authorized 100 billion US dollars of stock repurchases.

Among the top ten largest share repurchases in US history, Apple occupied the top 6 times, and Chevron and Alphabet are also on the list.

Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers LLC, commented: “This is an amazing number. Apple might think,They are becoming a value stock that returns to shareholders, rather than a high-growth stock that only requires cash for R&D or expansion.”