iPhone maker Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) reported a rare double miss for its first quarter earnings, running to 31 December 2022. Both revenue and earnings fell short of consensus estimates following a sales decline in nearly every product category. While disappointing, Shares doesn’t believe the investment case has changed, with Apple remaining a must-have stock for investment portfolios.

Earnings per share of $1.88 on sales of $117.2 billion represented a three to four percentage point miss, which might not seem much on the revenue line, but that’s more than $4.5 billion of income. This was the first time since October 2021 that Apple had fallen short on sales, and it was the worst revenue performance since the September 2016 quarter.

Revenue declined for its iPhone (-8%), Mac computers (-29%), and wearables including watches and earphones (-8%). However, iPad sales grew about 30% and services were up by 6%, partially offsetting losses. The decline in iPhone revenue was due to supply shortages, macroeconomic pressures, currency headwinds, and arguably poorer sales for the iPhone 14 model.

SUPPLY CHAIN TROUBLES NOT NEW

Apple struggling to manage production difficulties for the iPhone and its other family of tech gadgets is not new news, nor has it been exclusive to the company. Almost all tech-related companies with operations in China have suffered to some degree during the past year given the country’s stubborn Covid lockdown restrictions.

While earnings and sales disappointed, there were enough positives to keep many investors optimistic. First, Apple has called the end to the production and supply chain issues that dogged much of 2022. Second, Apple has a potentially large tailwind for earnings in the coming months as China accelerates its reopening and people start to get out and spend more.

During the earnings call, chief executive Tim Cook was asked whether the increase in average sales prices for iPhones was sustainable, to which he replied, ‘I think people are willing to really stretch to get the best they can afford in that category,’ adding that iPhones had become ‘integral’ to people’s lives.

Cook didn’t specifically say whether prices will continue to rise, but that comment certainly suggests that he thinks customers could be persuaded to pay ever more for the company’s prized smartphones.

It’s a surprisingly confident statement, especially in the current financial climate. Even in a healthier economy, the idea of people needing to ‘really stretch’ their budget to afford a premium smartphone might sound dubious, but Cook has proved right in the past. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Third, Apple’s services business hit an all-time revenue record of $20.8 billion during the quarter. The company makes money from selling handsets and devices and then collects a regular stream of subscription payments afterwards as people are plugged into its ecosystem, paying for things like music and film streaming and fitness activities.

This is potentially higher margin software and intellectual property-based revenue. It requires no parts and components to buy and ship to manufacturing bases, the back again to stores, which encourages optimism that operating and net margins that touched 29.4% and 24.6% respectively in the last quarter are sustainable and could go higher still.

SHARE PRICE UP AFTER THE NEWS

This goes some way to explaining why the market’s immediate reaction to the update was to push the stock 2.4% higher to $154.50, levels not seen since October last year and continuing the growth and tech stock recovery seen so far in 2023.

Even having eased back slightly to $151.90, it still means Apple shares have rallied close on 15% since Shares encouraged readers in December to buy the stock as one of our key selections for 2023.

While Apple is just as conscious of keeping its running costs in check as any big tech peer, it has so far resisted any temptation to make widespread redundancies. Letting people go is a ‘last resort,’ Cook told the Wall Street Journal, but it is a useful chess piece to bring into play if a recession does land on a global scale, and consumer belts tighten further.

Dan Ives, analyst at US broker Wedbush, believes Apple remains in a unique situation to withstand this economic storm better than its tech peers.

Apple no longer provides the exact number of iPhone units sold but Ives estimates that eight to 10 million iPhone sales were shifted out of the holiday season because of supply chain shortages. The company expects the March quarter year-on-year revenue performance to accelerate relative to the December quarter.

The macro backcloth remains uncertain, but the iPhone maker has proved resilient in past economic squeezes, and we continue to see the shares as a sound investment for 2023 and beyond.

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