Apple reports 20 percent increase in quarterly revenue

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple launch event in Brooklyn, New York, the United States, on Oct. 30, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Top U.S. smartphone manufacturer Apple Inc. Thursday announced a 20 percent increase in quarterly sales revenue, which hit 62.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Financial results for Apple's fiscal 2018 fourth quarter that ended Sept. 29 showed its quarterly earnings per diluted share were 2.91 dollars, up 41 percent from the previous corresponding period, and its international sales contributed 61 percent to the fourth quarter revenue.

Apple said it generated 19.5 billion dollars in operating cash flow and returned over 23 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases in the quarter, bringing total capital returned in fiscal 2018 to almost 90 billion dollars.

"We're thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

He said the Cupertino, California-based company had delivered new versions of iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac over the past two months, which offers the "strongest" lineup of products and services for the upcoming holiday season covering a period from Christmas to New Year's Day celebrations.

Apple is projecting total revenue for the 2019 first quarter in the range between 89 billion dollars and 93 billion dollars. Its operating expenses are expected to be between 8.7 billion dollars and 8.8 billion, with other income of 300 million dollars.

However, Apple's shares tumbled more than 7 percent Thursday, briefly falling below its 1 trillion dollar market cap, a historic record it made in August to become the first U.S. public company that crossed the 1-trillion-dollar threshold.