Khaberni - Apple provided strong revenue forecasts for the current third quarter, despite its warnings about rising memory chip costs and the continuation of the Mac devices shortage for several months.
The company said during a call with investors after announcing earnings on Thursday that sales would grow between 14% and 17% during the quarter ending in June.
This range far exceeded analysts' average expectations of 9.1%, pushing its stock up yesterday. It also rose about 3% in pre-market trading on Friday, after closing at $271.35, according to a Bloomberg report.
These forecasts give a positive boost to the new CEO, John Ternus, who will take over from Tim Cook on September 1st.
Ternus briefly appeared during the call, saying he would maintain Cook’s approach of "thoughtful consideration, patience, and discipline" as Apple's CEO.
Ternus said: "We have an incredible business plan ahead of us. This is the most exciting period in my 25-year career at Apple, as I work on developing products and services."
Cook, who has managed the Cupertino, California-based company for 15 years, will stay on as the CEO of the Board.
Advance Warning
Apple indicated that it is primarily dealing with a shortage in supply and memory costs, but things will worsen over time. The memory shortage has significantly affected the technology sector, forcing companies to raise prices and cut production.
During the call, Cook said memory costs would rise "significantly" this quarter, compared to the minor increases seen in March.
He added that in the fourth quarter and beyond, there would be an "increasing impact on the company's business." He refrained from disclosing whether Apple would raise prices.
The main supply constraints for Apple are in processors, not memory chips. This has primarily affected the Mac mini and Mac Studio, two desktop devices from Mac that have become very popular for running artificial intelligence models.
Cook said the company "underestimated" the demand for these two devices. It also underestimated the demand for the MacBook Neo, which is still hard to find.
The Apple online store indicates waiting periods of up to several weeks for all three products, and some stock is sold out.
Cook added: "We are not at a stage where we say this (situation) will be resolved soon," indicating that the constraints might last "several months." He mentioned that the iPhone devices shortage is less severe compared to the issues affecting Mac devices.
