While many tech stocks have fallen considerably in recent weeks, Apple (AAPL 1.41%) continues to soar. In this segment of Backstage Pass, recorded on Dec. 1, Fool contributors Brian Withers and Rachel Warren discuss.
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Brian Withers: Moving on to Apple, ticker symbol AAPL, like you needed to know. Record quarter. In many different aspects across the board and considering that the company declared that they could've sold $6 dollars more gear had they not had a supply chain headwind and shortages.
The top-line revenue, $83.4 billion, up 29% from last year. They recorded all-time record sales for Mac and quarterly records for iPhone, iPad, wearables, home, and accessories, representing about a 30% year-over-year growth in products. The services business, all-time record, $18.3 billion, growing 26% year over year.
They also set quarterly records in each geographic segment with strong double digit across the board, and note that these records didn't include the newly announced product lineup with the iPhone 13, Apple Watch 7, the new iPad and the new iPad mini. It's not just about this quarter with this company, so let's pan back. This has been an exceptional quarter in a string of exceptional quarters.
In the last decade, the company has purchased back -- this number is astounding, -- $464 billion in stock, reducing the overall share count by about 37%, and paid out over $600 billion in dividends to shareholders, giving shareholders between the two more than $1 trillion dollars in value over the last decade. No wonder this company is one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Rachel Warren: I love this stock, Brian. Apple, I'm a shareholder. I love this company. Just yesterday, Apple hit a new record high with an incredibly strong trading day, even though it was a less-than-stellar day for the broader market. With investors having concerns about another correction and high-inflation concerns also being rampant among investors, it seems like many are viewing Apple as something of a safe haven during what could be a potential market storm. Do you have any thoughts on this?
Brian Withers: Yeah. Good question. I really don't like timing the market or switching stocks to ride some temporary market conditions, but given all that, I'm amazed at Apple's continued dominance and its ability to expand into new products and new markets. Rachel, I'm a former Apple shareholder, and I sold my Apple stock in March of 2010.
Rachel Warren: Oh, no. [laughs]
Brian Withers: Yeah. You could see where this story's going. At the time Apple was starting to become close to the world's largest-market-cap company and I'm like, How much more can they grow from here? I did the math earlier today.
Since then for the shares that I owned, the company paid out in dividends almost three times my sales price [laughs] and I missed out on a 21-bagger.
I think Apple is one of those rare companies that's here to stay and will continue to thrive over the next decade.
Now, this next decade likely won't be as lucrative to shareholders as its last decade, but I think it will continue to be a market beater and a great source of dividends for your portfolio.
