Apple Q3 Results Beat Wall Street View; Shares Up 3%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) gained over 3% in extended trading session on Thursday after the California-based tech giant reported third-quarter results, with both earnings and revenues beating Wall Street view.

Apple said its third-quarter profit dropped to $19.44 billion or $1.20 per share from $21.74 billion or $1.30 per share last year. Twenty-nine analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted earnings of $1.16 per share for the quarter.

Third-quarter revenues rose 2 percent to $82.96 billion from $81.43 billion last year. Twenty-six analysts estimated revenues of $82.81 billion for the quarter.

The revenue was primarily driven by an increase in the sales of iPhones and services year-over-year. Revenues from iPhones were $40.67 billion, compared to $39.57 billion last year. Apple's services revenues increased to $19.60 billion from $17.49 billion last year.

"Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively despite the challenging operating environment. We set a June quarter revenue record and our installed base of active devices reached an all-time high in every geographic segment and product category," said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO.

Apple's board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.23 per share, which is payable on August 11 to shareholders as of August 8.

AAPL closed Thursday's trading at $157.35, up $0.56 or 0.36%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $5.09 or 3.23% in the after-hours trading.