Episode summary
Instant Reaction: Apple Delivers Upbeat Forecast | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Mark Gurman, Ed Ludlow
Summary
Apple’s latest quarter showed record revenue, a record EPS result, and a stronger-than-expected outlook, with first-quarter revenue at 143.76 billion versus 138.4 billion expected and EPS at $2.84 versus $2.68. Greater China also beat estimates at $25.53 billion, and the stock rose in after-hours trading as the market treated the report as a major reacceleration in demand.
The guests argued that the iPhone was the main driver, especially the iPhone 17 cycle and its new design, with one guest calling the quarter a “home run” and saying Apple bought itself a long runway on the AI debate. The other key point was that Apple appears able to absorb higher memory costs because of its scale and supply-chain leverage, including buying components well in advance.
The conversation also circled back to Apple’s AI gap. The guests said Apple is leaning on Google for some AI capabilities and does not yet have a strong internal answer, but the blowout quarter reduces immediate pressure. They also discussed Tim Cook’s succession question and said there is no sign a replacement is imminent, even as long-term strategy questions remain.
Key takeaways
- Apple beat Wall Street on revenue, EPS, and Greater China, with first-quarter revenue of 143.76 billion and EPS of $2.84 a share.
- One guest said the iPhone 17 cycle and its new design were the main reason Apple’s China business came back strong.
- The guests said Apple’s scale and advance purchasing helped it navigate rising memory-chip costs without meaningful margin damage.
- Apple’s AI strategy remains incomplete, with the company relying on Google for some capabilities while it works out a longer-term plan.
- The report eased near-term succession pressure on Tim Cook, even though the guests said the long-term question is still open.
Notable quotes
“this is a massive, massive, massive quarter. Uh this is a home run, their greatest quarter ever by orders of magnitude”
“It's a gigantic beat on overall revenue. Uh China is back. Uh you have a big beat on um the iPhone in particular”
“they buy uh components and memory components quarters and months in advance, sometimes years in advance”
“it's not that they're waiting it out, it's that they have no choice. They have nothing internal”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg. Instant reaction and analysis from our 3,000 journalists and analysts around the world.
Just want to get to Apple. Let's get to it. First quarter revenue, 143.76 billion.
Yes, a big beat. 138.4 billion was what the street was expecting. First quarter EPS also a big beat, $2.84 a share.
The street estimate was for $2.68 a share. Greater China, they've been struggling there. Revenue uh in Greater China, $25.53 billion, folks.
That is a beat. 21.82 billion was what the street was expecting. Um that's a new all-time EPS record though overall.
And the install base now has more than two and a half billion active devices. Well, got to say investors liking this uh report in the aftermarket. Stocks still up about 2% here uh in the uh postmarket trade.
Hey, let's see what uh Bloomberg Newsing editor for Global Tech Consumer Tech uh thinks about this. He is Mark German. Knows everything about this company.
Lots of exclusives. This feels pretty good.
Tim Cook gets to keep his job, right? Uh at least for now. Um this is a massive, massive, massive quarter.
Uh this is a home run, their greatest quarter ever by orders of magnitude. It's a gigantic beat on overall revenue. Uh China is back.
Uh you have a big beat on um the iPhone in particular, $85 billion quarter is just insane. Uh the installed base, $2.5 billion. The numbers are just beyond excellent.
Uh we could ignore the fact they missed on wearables, home and accessories. We can ignore the fact they missed on Mac. We could ignore the fact that they barely uh you know crossed expectations on services.
I guess none of that matters when the iPhone is selling so well.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- apple forecast
- margin pressure
- component costs
- iphone sales
- market reaction
Companies and tickers mentioned
- AAPL
- Apple
Watch the episode
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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