Apple: sales below expectations, fears for the end of the year – archyde

by Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) – Apple said Thursday that supply chain problems caused a shortfall in the July-September period, including lower than expected iPhone sales, and said it expected disruption even stronger during the current quarter.

The CEO of the apple firm told Reuters that the quarter ended Sept. 25 was marked by “larger than expected supply constraints,” to which were added production concerns in Southeast Asia. Is linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

If Apple noted in its Asian factories “significant improvements” at the end of October, the persistent shortage of semiconductors now affects “most of the products” of the group, said Tim Cook.

In post-close trading on Wall Street, the stock declined 5%.

Tim Cook said the group still expected sales growth in the fourth quarter. Analysts are forecasting an average rise of 7.4% to $ 119.7 billion.

Apple posted sales of $ 83.4 billion for the July-September period, traditionally sluggish before the sales jump linked to the holiday season. The consensus stood at $ 84.8 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Earnings per share stood at $ 1.24, in line with analysts’ expectations.

If its iPhone sales, driven by the new smartphone line, had been higher than expectations earlier this year, Apple warned in July that the semiconductor shortage would start to affect its products as of the third quarter.

The group fell short of expectations in this key category: iPhone sales stood at $ 38.9 billion, against a consensus of $ 41.5 billion according to Refinitiv data.

(Stephen Nellis report in San Francisco; French version Jean Terzian)