U.S. stock market indexes were mixed ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting announcement.
Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) rose in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company posted second-quarter earnings per share of $2.73 on revenue of $61.1 billion, which was 15.5% higher than the comparable prior-year quarter. The company beat revenue expectations by $160 million and earnings estimates by five cents.
“Our business performed extremely well during the March quarter, as we grew earnings per share by 30% and generated over $15 billion in operating cash flow,” Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said. “With the greater flexibility we now have from access to our global cash, we can more efficiently invest in our U.S. operations and work toward a more optimal capital structure. Given our confidence in Apple’s future, we are very happy to announce that our board has approved a new $100 billion share repurchase authorization and a 16% increase in our quarterly dividend.”
The cash dividend is 73 cents per share of common stock.
Looking ahead, the company expects third-quarter revenue to be between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion and the gross margin to be between 38% and 38.5%.
Gainers
- Devon Energy Corp. (DVN, Financial)
- Under Armour Inc. (UAA, Financial)
- Marathon Petroleum Corp”‹. (MPC, Financial)
- Centene Corp. (CNC, Financial)
Losers
- Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD, Financial)
- Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX, Financial)
- Xerox Corp. (XRX, Financial)
- Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM, Financial)
Global markets
The main European stock markets traded higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.30%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.29%, Spain's Ibex 35 inched up 1.18% and Germany's Dax jumped 1.59%
In Asia, India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.05%, but Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.27% and China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.03%.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
