Apple edges past muted targets, shares rise

Apple's lastest earnings fell well shy of its year-earlier results, but the iPhone maker still managed to top Wall Street's muted expectations.

The company beat analysts' forecasts on both the top and bottom lines in its fiscal third quarter, as its sales grew slightly from the same period last year. Its per share profit fell 7% from last year, but still beat the Street's estimates by 8 cents.

Apple's stock traded up following the report. In recent after-hours trading, its stock price was up $5.50 a share, or 2.6%, to $214.28.

Here's what Apple reported and how it compared with analysts' forecasts and its year-earlier results:

Q3 Revenue: $53.8 billion. Analysts were looking for $53.4 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company posted sales of $53.3 billion.

Q3 earnings per share (GAAP): $2.18. Wall Street was expecting $2.10. In its third quarter last year, Apple earned $2.34 a share.

Q4 Revenue (guidance): $61 billion to $64 billion. Prior to the report, analysts had forecast $61 billion. Last year, Apple saw sales of $62.9 billion in its fourth quarter.

Q4 EPS: Apple didn't offer a specific earnings target. Analysts had previously projected it would $2.69 in the period. The iPhone maker earned $2.91 a share in the same period of 2018.

Although Apple's overall results were better-than-expected, the performance of its various business lines were mixed. Its product sales weren't as bad as Wall Street was expecting. But its services business wasn't nearly as good.

Apple's products — iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more — brought in $42.4 billion in sales in the quarter. That was down about 2% from the same period a year earlier. But Wall Street had forecast that Apple's products business would bring in $41.7 billion in the period.

Meanwhile, the company's services business — which includes subscription revenue from Apple Music, the money Google pays Apple to make its search engine the default one on the iPhone and iPad, and App Store sales — saw revenue of $11.5 billion in the period. That was up 12.6% from the year-earlier quarter, which was less than forecast. Analysts were expecting that business to bring in $11.9 billion in the period.

In afternoon trading leading up to Apple's report, its shares were little changed. In recent trading, its stock price was up 7 cents, or less than 1%, to $209.75.

We will be updating this story after Apple reports its results. Refresh this page or click here for updates.