Apple shares fall despite surprise revenue gain

Apple eked out a modest revenue gain during the three months ending September 30, beating analysts’ projections that sales would fall during the quarter.

The iPhone maker on Thursday reported $64.7 billion in revenue during the quarter, up 1% from the same period last year, and $1 billion ahead of the revenue analysts had expected. Apple posted earnings of $0.73 per share, compared to analysts’ projected EPS of $0.70.

Despite the better-than-expected results, Apple’s stock fell 4% in after-hours trading Thursday.

Investors may be disappointed at the slowdown in sales growth from last quarter, when increased demand driven by the pandemic contributed to an 11% year-over-year revenue gain.

They may also have noted that iPhone sales declined 20% during the September quarter compared with the prior year. That is likely at least in part because this year’s September quarter did not include sales of the new iPhone 12.

Last year’s September quarter sales number included the first 10 days’ worth of sales of the iPhone 11. But the iPhone 12 launch was delayed this year by the pandemic, so it didn’t go on sale until after the quarter had ended.