Apple Reports Q2 Results and Expands Capital Return Program to $300 Billion

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2017 second quarter ended April 1, 2017.

Apple posted quarterly revenue of $52.9 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.10. These results compare to revenue of $50.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $1.90 in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

Apple also announced an increase of $50 billion to their program to return capital to shareholders and is extending the program time-frame by four quarters.  Under the expanded program, Apple plans to spend a cumulative total of $300 billion by the end of March 2019.

From the inception of its capital return program in August 2012 through March 2017, Apple has returned over $211 billion to shareholders, including $151 billion in share repurchases.

“We generated strong operating cash flow of $12.5 billion and returned over $10 billion to our investors in the March quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Given the strength of our business and our confidence in our future, we are happy to announce another $50 billion increase to our capital return program today.”

As part of this latest update to the program, the share repurchase authorization increased to $210 billion from the $175 billion level announced a year ago.

Apple also announced a 10.5% increase their quarterly dividend and has declared a dividend of $0.63 per share payable on May 18, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 15, 2017.