A well-managed company
Let’s go over the headline numbers first. Apple had a record Q3 result with almost $83 billion in revenue, a 2% YoY increase on the back of a 36% growth last year. The 1% decline in product revenue was more than offset by the 12% growth in Services, which hit almost $20 billion in sales. The company’s gross margin profile this quarter stayed relatively similar to the historical trends: 36% for Products, 71% for Services and 43% for the whole company. Operating margin was 28%, down 200 basis points YoY, while net margin dropped to 23% from 27% in Q3 last year.
Make no mistakes: this was a tough quarter. All companies had to deal with significant challenges such as the new variant of Covid-19, unfavorable foreign exchange headwind, supply chain constraints, the war in Ukraine and macroeconomic concerns across the globe. Big retailers like Walmart or Target reported higher expenses and lower profit guidance. Meta had the first revenue decline in history while incurring more operational expenses. Even the great Amazon saw a 4% decline in revenue from their famous eCommerce segment.
Yet, we see Apple increase their top line, albeit modestly. Unfavorable foreign exchange rates were estimated to have a 300 basis point impact. Otherwise, the revenue growth would have been higher. On the other side of the equation, Apple stayed disciplined with their costs. Gross margin was relatively intact while the operating expenses (R&D and SG&A) were under controlled and rose only modestly. We all know how hard it is personally to stay disciplined with living expenses when disposable income grows. Hence, given the balance sheet that Apple has, they deserve praise for not wasting shareholders’ money on unnecessary acquisitions or ludicrous ventures.
For the next quarter, the company expected a 600 basis point impact from foreign exchange, better-than-this-quarter supply chain status and an acceleration in revenue growth. The positive note on revenue forecast is dire contrast with a somber tone from other companies, especially when we take into the size of Apple and the breadth of its operations across the world. Apple used to be a design firm known for the willingness to spend on products and services regardless of the cost. Tim Cook took over and steered the company towards a financially and operationally disciplined entity. It pays off handsomely.
iPhone and the resilient brand
Commentary from the management detailed how strong customer loyalty was towards the Apple brand. iPhone customer satisfaction stood at 98% and there were record switchers from other operating systems to iOS. Installed base for Mac, iPad and Wearables all reached a new all-time high. Over half of the new customers in the quarter were new to these products.
Apple products don’t exactly fall into the necessity category due to their high prices. As inflation hits consumers hard every country and supply chain issues still wreck multiple industries, it’s nothing short of impressive to see a 3% YoY increase in iPhone sales. That is robust proof of how dominant and what a great brand iPhone is. And we all know that once a consumer enters the Apple ecosystem, they are likely to buy more products and services. Therefore, investors can be more confident in the strength of Apple’s business amidst economic downturns, but there is NO guarantee that will happen.
Greater China
China still made up 18% of the total company, pretty much in line with the historical figures for Q3. According to Apple, China’s Services revenue grew faster than the company average of 24% and hit an all-time June quarter record. The growth in Services revenue was offset by the lower demand of products in China, due to the lockdown, albeit a push late in June. China’s operating margin dropped from 43% to 38%. Because Services, which has a higher margin, grew this quarter, the drop in operating margin is likely attributed to higher SG&A. Traditionally, Q4 is the weakest quarter for China, both in revenue and operating margin. I expect the revenue share and operating margin to drop to 17% and 34% respectively. It’d be great to have an analyst ask the management for more color on China in Q4.
Services
Per Apple:
Our Services set a June quarter revenue record of $19.6 billion, up 12% over a year ago, with all-time revenue records in the Americas and the rest of Asia Pacific and June quarter records in Europe and Greater China. We also achieved June quarter revenue records in each major Services category, including all-time revenue records for Music, Cloud Services, Apple Care, and Payment Services.
Source: Fool.com
Where are the critics of Apple’s growing Services? The pivot to Services a few years ago raised eyebrows, but eventually proved extremely fruitful and important to Apple. Not only does Services make customer experience on Apple’s devices better, but it also aids the company’s profitability with 70% gross margin. Since 2019, Services is the only part of the business that has had no down quarter and as of this quarter, made up 24% of the company’s top line. For reference, in terms of 4-quarter rolling average revenue, Apple’s Services is already bigger than Amazon’s AWS.
The number of paid subscriptions rose steadily every quarter over the past 4 years and hit the 860-million mark. At this rate, we’ll cross the 1-billion mark in the next 12 months. As the paid subscription population is highly correlated with Services revenue, the more subscriptions there are, the higher Services revenue grows.
Additionally, Apple’s commentary on the drivers of Services is very interesting. Apparently, the major contributors are Cloud, Apple Care, Payment Services and Music. The first three have high margin and are like to grow since they are sticky and central to user experience with Apple devices. How many use an iPhone without iCloud and Apple Pay? When, not if, this trend continues, it will do wonders to the gross margin of Services and the company.
One notable absence is ads. It’s understandable that this quarter saw some softness when the likes of Snap, Facebook or Google all reported slower growth than expected. But once this current economic environment subsides, ads will be a great lever to pull. Formerly limited to the Search tab on the App Store, Apple Ads was recently expanded ads to Today’s tab. More ads slots mean more revenue for Apple. These dollars also have high margin and don’t
Minh Quang Duong 