🚀 Apple Revenues Rise

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Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. Apple’s revenue rose 4% in Q1, but iPhone sales fell short of expectations, with Chinese revenue declining 11.1%. Still, shares gained 3% as strong services revenue ($26.34B, up 14%) and a record-high 46.9% gross margin reassured investors. CEO Tim Cook cited stronger iPhone 16 sales in countries with Apple Intelligence, which isn’t yet available in China. Mac and iPad sales rebounded with new product launches, while wearables declined 2%. Apple forecasted low-to-mid single-digit growth for Q2, with services expected to grow in the low double digits. It spent $30B on dividends and buybacks.

2. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, rose 2.6% year-over-year in December, with core PCE at 2.8%, both in line with expectations but above the 2% target. Monthly inflation rose 0.3% overall and 0.2% for core, while personal income climbed 0.4% and spending increased 0.7%. Durable goods prices declined, but energy spiked 2.7%. The data follows the Fed’s decision to hold rates at 4.25%-4.5% after three cuts. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman signaled a cautious stance, saying further cuts require clearer signs of disinflation. Meanwhile, Q4 employment costs rose 0.9%, up slightly from Q3.

3. Samsung reported Q4 revenue of KRW 75.8T ($52.2B), up 12% YoY but down 4% QoQ, while operating profit surged 130% YoY to KRW 6.5T but fell 29.3% QoQ due to rising R&D costs and a softening chip market. Despite record-high memory revenue of KRW 30.1T, Samsung lagged behind SK Hynix in the booming HBM sector. Smartphone sales dipped QoQ, but flagship models, including the Galaxy S24 series, drove annual growth. Looking ahead, Samsung expects near-term weakness in semiconductors but aims to capitalize on AI-driven premium products, while its shares fell 2.2% amid broader market pressure.

4. Headlines

   1. Inflation in Germany was 2.8% ahead of the election in February.

   2. The FDA has approved Vertex’s non-opioid painkiller, this is the first innovation in painkiller meds this millennium.

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