Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock price gained investors confidence after reporting solid financial numbers for the fourth quarter. In addition, the robust outlook for the first quarter of FY2020 added to investor’s sentiments. Moreover, the company has enhanced the investor’s confidence by diversifying its revenue base.
AAPL shares extended the uptrend and hit a new record level after Q4. Apple stock price is currently trading around $255, up 61% since the start of this year. Along with the growth in share price, the company’s market capitalization reached $1.4 trillion level – making it the most valuable company in the U.S. stock markets.
Revenue Diversification is Adding to Apple Stock Price
The company had experienced sluggish growth in iPhone revenue in the past couple of quarters. However, its focus on diversifying the revenue base has helped to offset lower iPhone revenue. Its third-quarter non-iPhone revenue grew 17% year over year.
The services revenue hit an all-time high of $12.5 billion in the third quarter. The company is expecting the extension of services revenues in the following quarters.
In addition, the largest company has experienced substantial growth in Wearables revenues – which jumped 50% from the past year period. Its Wearables, Home and Accessories revenue came in at $6.5 billion in the third quarter, up from the consensus of $5.94B.
“We concluded a groundbreaking fiscal 2019 with our highest Q4 revenue ever, fueled by accelerating growth from Services, Wearable, and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
Big cash Returns and Robust Outlook Supports AAPL Shares
Combined with considerable returns in the form of share price appreciation, Apple also offers big cash returns to investors. It has returned more than $21 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks in Q4. It has recently increased the quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.77 per share.
The share buybacks stood around $18 billion in the latest quarter and $66 billion for the full year. On the whole, market pundits are seeing the extension of Apple stock price bullish trend. This is because the company anticipates double-digit growth in fiscal 2020 revenues.
