Apple results beat market expectations, with a new device coming.

TECH GIANT BEATS EXPECTATIONS DESPITE NEW DEVICE WINGS WAITING IN THE

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

Revenue will be US$49 billion to $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 US$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 fourthquarter results.

Some analysts had reduced their projections on concern the new high-end iPhone may be delayed, but Apple’s forecast on Tuesday calmed those fears.

REALLY LIKE WHAT WE SEE FOR ... THE BACK-TOSCHOOL SEASON.

“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 $44.9 billion. Apple generates almost two-thirds 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, people familiar with the plans have told Bloomberg News. 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 3-D 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..

Cook said reporting about the new versions of the iPhone “has created a pause” in consumer buying “that is likely larger than previously.” Still the company sold 1.6 per cent more iPhone units in the fiscal third-quarter than in the period a year earlier.

Slowing smartphone sales have prompted Apple to invest more heavily in developing new technologies. It’s working on smart glasses, an autonomous driving system, improved health and fitness offerings, and its own semiconductor technology. Research and development spending jumped 15 per cent to $2.9 billion in the most recent quarter.

Apple unveiled the early fruits of its spending on augmented reality technology in June, releasing a set of tools which let developers build AR software for the iPhone and iPad when the next operating system for those devices is rolled out later this year.