Apple Q1 results top estimates on stronger services revenue, but iPhone sales miss

Investing.com - Apple reported first-quarter results Thursday that topped Wall Street analysts as stronger services revenue offset weaker iPhone sales at a time when competition from smartphone rivals in China persists.   

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 1% in recent afterhours trading.

For the three months ended Dec. 28, Apple reported Q1 earnings of $2.42 per share on revenue of $124.3 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com had anticipated EPS of $2.36 on revenue of $124.12B.

Sales of its flagship iPhone handset device, which still makes up nearly half of total revenue, fell to $69.14B from $69.70B a year earlier, but short of estimates for $71.03B.

Apple's services unit, which includes its Apple Pay and App Store offerings, increased by around 14% year-on-year to $26.34 billion, missing Wall Street estimates of $26.09B.

In a further sign that competition in China remains intense, Apple's sales in Greater China were down 11% to $18.5B, falling well short of analyst estimates of $21.57B.

Apple's wearables, home&accessories unit reported sales of $11.75B, just shy of estimates of $11.95B, while mac revenue was $8.99B, beating estimates of $7.94B.