Results still rosy without new products

Apple Inc. has projected revenue in the current quarter that topped analysts’ estimates, sending its shares soaring and signalling strong sales of new iPhones scheduled for release later this year.

Revenue will be US$49 billion to US$52 billion in the three months through September, the company said Tuesday. Analysts projected US$49.1 billion.

The unexpectedly strong results led Apple’s shares to jump more than six per cent in extended trading after closing at $150.05 Tuesday in New York. That put the stock on course to open at a record on Wednesday. Shares have climbed about 30 per cent this year.

New iPhones typically go on sale in mid- to late September, which produces a few weeks of revenue that are included in the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results. Some analysts had reduced their projections on concern the new highend iPhone may be delayed, but Apple’s forecast on Tuesday calmed those fears.

“We’ve put everything we know into coming up with the guidance,” CEO Tim Cook said. “We really like what we see for the beginning of the back-to-school season.”

The company sold just more than 41 million iPhones in the quarter ended July 1, generally in line with the 41.1 million estimated by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose 7.2 per cent to US$45.4 billion compared with the average projection of US$44.9 billion. Apple generates almost twothirds of its revenue from the iPhone.

Apple is likely to introduce three new handsets this year: a revamped top model, known for now as the iPhone 8, and upgrades to the existing iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, said people familiar with the plans.

The high-end iPhone will include an organic lightemitting diode screen.

Apple’s stock has soared to record highs on expectations that the new high-end smartphone, which will also include a front-facing 3D sensor to enable facial recognition, will spur a resurgence in demand that will carry into the holiday quarter and beyond. Sales growth of the company’s flagship product has slowed over the past two years as the market has become increasingly saturated and competitors have offered cheaper products with similar capabilities.

In a long-awaited turnaround, Apple sold 11.4 million iPads in the quarter, a 15-per-cent increase from last year. It’s the first time Apple’s quarterly sales of iPads have improved from the previous year since the opening three months of 2014. Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, cited Apple’s efforts to sell more iPads in classrooms as the main reason for the comeback.

Cook said the firm sold 1.6 per cent more iPhone units in the fiscal thirdquarter than in the period a year earlier despite slowing smartphone sales.