11:58 a.m. ET, May 1, 2020
Apple climbs while the rest of the market slides
From CNN Business' Paul R. La Monica
Apple shares were up about 1% in late morning trading Friday, bucking the
downward trend for the broader market and fellow FAANG stock Amazon.
Apple (
AAPL), like
Amazon (
AMZN), reported earnings after the closing bell Thursday. And while Amazon
posted a profit that missed forecasts, Apple's numbers were
strong across the board.
Sales and earnings topped Wall Street's estimates, despite an expected drop in China revenue. Apple also said it planned to use some of its $192.8 billion in cash to boost its dividend and share buyback program.
The only real negative? CEO Tim Cook declined to provide an outlook for the current quarter, citing "the lack of visibility and certainty in the near-term" as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
But it seems that Wall Street is prepared to forgive the company for that. Needham analyst Laura Martin cited the strong growth in Apple's services revenue as a key reason why she still likes the company.
And Synovus Trust portfolio manager Daniel Morgan noted that the decision to repurchase more stock is a major plus. He estimates that each $15 billion to $20 billion in buybacks will boost earnings by an additional $1 a share.