AAPL: Apple Posts 6% Sales Growth to $94.9 Billion. The Stock Fell Anyway.

iPhone sales jumped 5.5% and revenue continued to climb but investors needed more to start bidding for the shares.

• Apple stock AAPL slipped under the flatline in pre-market trading Friday after the company posted a not-so-stellar earnings data. Or more precisely, the report failed to please investors — especially the part where executives offer forward-looking guidance. But let’s get to the actual numbers: adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.64, just slightly ahead of the $1.60 estimate.
• Revenue for the quarter ending September 30 — Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter — landed at $94.9 billion, up 6% from last year’s $89.5 billion. Sales of the iPhone, the company’s biggest cash cow, brought in $46.22 billion against expectations of $45.16 billion. By the looks of it, the flagship product was selling well during the trimester. What’s ahead, though, caused shares to sink.
• For the holiday quarter, chief financial officer Luca Maestri — who bid farewell to shareholders as he’ll be succeeded by Kevan Parekh by the next earnings update — said revenue is expected to grow at a “low to mid single digits” rate year-over-year. This would imply sales growth of around $127 billion at a 7% annual growth, or slightly below Wall Street’s projected growth.