Apple stock jumps after strong 3Q results

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Apple posted better-than-expected third quarter results Tuesday, led by growth in iPad sales.

Sales of iPads jumped 14.8 percent to 11.4 million units, compensating for modest on-year growth in sales of Macs and particularly iPhones, which saw a 10 percent on-year revenue drop in China.

Revenue totaled $45.4 billion in the April-June period, up 7.1 percent from $42.4 billion a year earlier.

Global sales accounted for 61 percent of revenues, according to the company's financial statement, while net income rose 11.5 percent to $8.7 billion from $7.8 billion.

"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," CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

Services revenue, which includes from digital content, licensing, AppleCare and Apple Pay, rose 21.6 percent to $7.27 billion from $5.98 billion.

Sales from other products such as Apple TV and Apple Watch soared to $2.73 billion from $2.22 billion.

"We reported unit and revenue growth in all our product categories in the June quarter, driving 17 percent growth in earnings per share," Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said in the statement.

iPhone sales rose a modest 1.5 percent to slightly above 41 million units with Mac sales up 0.9 percent to around 4.3 million.

The strong earnings help company shares jump 6 percent to $159.01 in after-hours trading after closing the day at $150.05.