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That thing about waning demand for smartphones? Between its earnings beat, and a huge boost to its cash-return program, Apple Inc. had something to say about that Tuesday afternoon.

The tech giant’s shares ticked up 3 per cent in aftermarket trading, following on a 2 per cent gain in Tuesday’s trading session, on its quarterly report. While its sales of 52.2 million iPhones were a hair below expectations, its overall revenue and earnings topped consensus, and its second-quarter revenue guidance was a bit higher than analysts has expected.

The biggest news, by sheer scope, is a boost in Apple’s capital-return program of dividends and share buybacks. The company said it will add another US$100-billion to a share-purchase program that will have already retired US$210-billion of stock by the end of the current quarter. It also will increase its dividend by 16 per cent, to 73 US cents per quarter.

Apple’s US$22.8-billion in buybacks in the just-completed quarter was a record amount for any U.S. company, said S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt, and the dividend increase will push it past Exxon Mobil to make it the biggest aggregate payer of dividends, with US$14.8-billion in payouts per year.

Apple has been at a challenging crossroads this year with sales of its flagship iPhone X disappointing many observers. Investors have watched Apple closely in recent weeks as a string of poor forecasts from the smartphone supply chain signaled that iPhone demand may be lower than previously expected. They have also been watching carefully for signs of what Apple plans to do with its hundreds of billions of dollars in cash.

Apple posted revenue for its March quarter of US$61.1-billion, up from US$52.9-billion last year. Wall Street expected $60.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company sold 52.2 million iPhones versus expectations of 52.3 million, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, up from 50.7 million last year.

Snap Inc. ended up on the other end of things Tuesday, as it missed expectations for revenue and users and saw its shares drop a massive 15 per cent in after-market trading. If the shares open below US$12 Wednesday, they’ll test their 52-week low, be roughly half their 52-week high and be well below their US$17 IPO price of a year ago.

The company has overhauled its Snapchat app and added automated ad buying tools in an effort to hold onto users and advertisers as bigger rival Facebook Inc. introduces Snapchat-like features to Instagram.

Year-over-year revenue growth will likely slow substantially in the second quarter, chief financial officer Drew Vollero said in prepared remarks, because of weaker pricing for ads and custom creative tools.

For the quarter that ended in March, total revenue rose 54.1 per cent from the same period a year earlier to US$230.7-million in what was Snap’s fifth quarterly earnings as a public company. Analysts on average had expected revenue of US$244.5-million.

Snackmaker Mondelez International Inc. reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 62 cents per share. The mean expectation of 18 analysts for the quarter ended March 31 was for earnings of 61 cents per share. Revenue rose 5.5 percent to $6.77 billion from a year ago; analysts expected $6.65 billion. Shares were up almost 2 per cent in late trading Tuesday.

Canada’s biggest after-market name scheduled for Tuesday was Suncor Energy Inc. Analysts expected, on average, 52 cents EPS on revenue of just over $9.3-billion. The company’s slight EPS beat in the prior quarter was just the second time in eight quarters it had topped expectations.

Suncor stock is up just over 7 per cent year-to-date, placing it comfortably above-average in S&P/TSX Composite energy stocks.

In other Tuesday after-market Canadians:

Alamos Gold Inc. met Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S expectations with EPS of 3 US cents and said it was raising production guidance at two of its properties.

Genworth MI Canada Inc. topped expectations with EPS of $1.38, versus Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S consensus of $1.20. The mortgage company said premiums written grew 22 per cent year-over-year.

Russel Metals Inc. reported 62 cents in EPS on $934-million in revenue, versus consensus expectations of 55 cents EPS on $859-million in revenue.

Goeasy Ltd., a seller and financer of household goods, reported same-store sales gains of 3.6 per cent and EPS of 77 cents, versus 76 cents consensus estimate, per Thomson Reuters Eikon. Revenue of $114.8 topped consensus of just under $111 million.

A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund said Tuesday evening it would increase it’s bumping its monthly distribution to 13.8 cents, from 13.6 cents, after a quarter where earned $6.3-million on sales of $267.68-million in the first quarter of 2018. The fund earned $5.42-million in the same period last year.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. was also expected to announce results Wednesday evening.

Wednesday morning offers a host of big Canadian names.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. is expected to post EPS of 91 cents on just under $10.36-billion in sales. Loblaw’s not one to vary widely from consensus: It’s beaten expectations modestly in seven of the past eight quarters.

Analysts expect, on average, 78 US cents in EPS on US$2.45 billion from Molson Coors Brewing Co. The Colorado-and-Montreal brewer has beaten expectations twice and posted an in-line quarter over the past three periods.

Technology systems company CGI Group Inc. is expected to earn, on average, $1.04 per share on $2.88-billion in revenue. The company exceeded expectations last quarter, the first beat after two in-line reports and three misses in the five prior periods, according to Eikon.

Theatre company Cineplex Inc. is expected to post 25 cents per share on just under $399-million in revenue. The company has exceeded expectations in three of the past four quarters, including the past two, but it has several big misses in the prior eight quarters.

Kirkland Lake Gold, the miner with three of its four properties in Ontario, is expected to post EPS of 24 US cents on US$197 million in revenue. Four of the 10 analysts following the company have boosted estimates in recent days by an average of 21 per cent.

Wednesday’s U.S. before-market schedule is even bigger, with Automatic Data Processing Inc., Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P., CVS Health Corp., Humana Inc., Mastercard Inc., Yum Brands Inc. and Zoetis Inc.

With files from Reuters

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
CVS-N
CVS Corp
+0.42%79.76
YUM-N
Yum! Brands
+0.97%138.65
SNAP-N
Snap Inc
+0.26%11.48
GTE-T
Gran Tierra Energy Inc
+2.22%9.69
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
-1.06%171.48
L-T
Loblaw CO
-0.92%150.1

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