Why Apple Inc Shares Soared, Sent Dow Above 22000

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares soared Wednesday after the company released stronger-than-expected third-quarter (3Q) earnings after markets closed on Tuesday. Apple hit $59.75 per share before closing up 7.09 points, or 4.73% to $157.14.

The rally sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) above 22,000 for the first time ever in history.

Revenue and EPS rose 7% and 17%, respectively, to $45.4 billion and $1.67. The median analyst forecast expected revenue of $44.9 billion and EPS of $1.57. International sales accounted for 61% of Apple’s 3Q revenue.

“With revenue up 7 percent year-over-year, we’re happy to report our third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth and an all-time quarterly record for Services revenue,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We hosted an incredibly successful Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and we’re very excited about the advances in iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS coming this fall.”

The earnings report was an across-the-board increase from the 3Q in the prior year. Revenue gained from $42.4 billion and earnings per diluted share were up from $1.42 in the year-ago quarter.

The company’s board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.63 per share for common stock. The dividend is payable on August 17, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 14, 2017.

Apple issued guidance for the 4Q 2017, which was also higher than anticipated. The company is expecting revenue between $49 billion and $52 billion and a gross margin between 37.5% and 38%.

“We reported unit and revenue growth in all our product categories in the June quarter, driving 17 percent growth in earnings per share,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned $11.7 billion to investors during the quarter, bringing cumulative capital returns under our program to almost $223 billion.”