If it wasn’t clear from Apple’s prior promise of a second-quarter 2020 revenue projection miss, the global coronavirus pandemic has weakened the company’s recovery from a shaky 2019 — and although the hit wasn’t as bad as expected, we’re seeing the details first hand. Apple reported $58.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, compared with $58 billion a year ago, when it disclosed a 5% year-over-year decline compared with the second fiscal quarter of 2018. Prior to the U.S. outbreak, but with awareness of its continuing growth in China, the company expected earnings to fall in the $63 billion to $67 billion range.
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On average, analysts predicted average earnings per share of $2.26 and revenues of roughly $54.5 billion — a drop of 6% to 8% for the second quarter — owing in part to closures of the company’s retail stores and COVID-19-related interruptions in its production facilities. The number was actually up 1% over the year-ago quarter, and comes after the overall U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was revealed to have contracted by 4.8% during the quarter, with mounting virus death tolls and massive job losses raising the prospect of a prolonged recession or depression.