Revenue for the quarter came in at $124.3 billion, beating analyst estimates of $124.13 billion. Adjusted earnings per share also exceeded expectations at $2.40, compared to the estimated $2.36. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter Apple has beaten analyst estimates on both revenue and earnings.
Despite iPhone sales slipping slightly year over year to $69.14 billion from $69.7 billion, overall revenue climbed 4%. The company’s services segment, which includes subscriptions and digital offerings, reached $26.34 billion, up from $23.12 billion last year. Apple’s installed base of active devices also hit an all-time high, providing further confidence in the company’s long-term ecosystem strength.
Following Apple’s better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, several analysts raised their price targets on the stock:
Goldman Sachs – Buy, price target raised from $280 to $294
BofA Securities – Buy, price target raised from $253 to $265
Morgan Stanley – Overweight, price target raised from $273 to $275
JP Morgan – Overweight, price target raised from $260 to $270
Evercore ISI Group – Outperform, price target raised from $250 to $260
Needham – Buy, price target maintained at $260
Barclays – Underweight, price target raised from $183 to $197
Jefferies – Underperform, price target raised from $200.75 to $202.33
CEO Tim Cook highlighted the company’s continued innovation in artificial intelligence, branding it “Apple Intelligence,” and emphasized the upcoming expansion of these capabilities in April. The company also announced a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share, payable on Feb. 13.
AAPL Price Action: Apple shares were up 1.30% at $240.67 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
IonQ Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares are trading lower Monday, pulling back after rallying in recent weeks. Here’s what you need to know.
What To Know: IonQ shares are up more than 60% since the start of the month, and have more than doubled since the start of the year. The stock opened lower Monday and quickly traded down from around $28.50 to around $22.30 before bouncing and leveling off between $24 and $25 per share.
IonQ shares really took off after the company reported quarterly financials near the start of November. IonQ reported third-quarter revenue of $12.4 million, beating analyst expectations of $10.56 million. The company posted a loss of 24 cents per share, versus an expected loss of 21 cents per share, according to Benzinga Pro.
The company’s quarterly report was accompanied by a series of partnerships and contract announcements, including a $54.5 million contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab and the creation of a new quantum application development center in collaboration with AstraZeneca.
Following the report, several analysts raised price targets on IonQ, which helped shares sustain positive momentum throughout the week. The company also announced that it was issued five new U.S. patents, covering advancements in quantum computing across multiple industries and applications.
IonQ shares briefly saw some buyers come into the name in afternoon trading on Monday after the company demonstrated a hybrid quantum computing workflow using the NVIDIA Inc. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CUDA-Q platform and its quantum hardware.
IonQ and Nvidia presented the application workflow together at SC24. The companies believe the new approaches have potential relevance in many chemistry-focused commercial applications.
“IonQ is building on its approach of accelerating AI, scientific compute, and other supercomputing workloads with quantum hardware – enabling entirely new ways to approach previously unsolvable problems,” said Dean Kassmann, SVP of Engineering & Technology at IonQ.
“Today’s molecular modeling demonstration illustrates why CUDA-Q is a great platform for achieving seamless integration and top-tier performance with our leading quantum hardware.”
IonQ Price Action: IonQ shares were down 15.4% at $24.66 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) shares are trading lower on Tuesday in response to news surrounding the future of TikTok in the United States. Here’s what you need to know.
What To Know: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to attempt to halt a potential U.S. ban of TikTok next year, following through on his campaign promise to save the popular social media app, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s support could provide relief to TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, as it faces a looming deadline for divesting U.S. assets to meet bipartisan requirements for U.S. security compliance. The current mandate requires ByteDance to transfer TikTok’s U.S. operations to an owner outside of China by Jan. 19.
Why It Matters: As Trump prepares to take office, his potential intervention might delay the ban, allowing TikTok to continue operating in its largest market. If TikTok remains in the U.S., it could maintain its influence over a significant user base of approximately 180 million Americans.
A person familiar with the matter reportedly said that ByteDance realized months ago that a Trump victory was the company’s best chance to retain control over its U.S. assets.
“The outcome of the election puts him in an even better place than he was already trending. And that’s what the company is hoping for,” the person reportedly said.
Tuesday’s news is being viewed as a negative for TikTok competitors, including Snap, who stand to benefit from a potential TikTok ban as it would mean less competition in the social media space.
SNAP Price Action: Snap shares were down 4.64% at $11.40 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
