Apple Q2 results: Apple sales inch higher despite coronavirus but CEO Tim Cook sees uncertain future

Apple Inc reported sales and profits that beat Wall Street expectations Thursday, with Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook saying China sales were “headed in the right direction” as that country reopens from the novel coronavirus.

But Cook said it was impossible to forecast overall results for the current quarter because of uncertainty created by the virus. Shares declined 2.4 per cent to $286.56 in extended trading.

With its global brand, few American companies have been exposed to the spread of the coronavirus like Apple, whose iPhone sales declined in the March quarter as device sales were forced to online-only in many places. Sales of subscription services such as streaming television content rose with billions of people locked in their homes, which pushed the overall number of subscribers to paid apps and services on Apple’s devices to 515 million.