Today Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2017 second quarter ended April 1, 2017. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $52.9 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.10. These results compare to revenue of $50.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $1.90 in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter's revenue. Apple's guidance for the quarter was between 51.5 and 53.5 – so Apple was in line.

CNBC via Thomson Reuters expected $52.97 and 52 million iPhones. Apple sold 50.763 million iPhones as noted in Apple's Unaudited Summary Data below.

Kevin O'Leary, Shark Tank Co-Host thinks Apple is doing fantastic. Hear his commentary in the CNBC reaction below.

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO stated: "We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus. We've seen great customer response to both models of the new iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition and we're thrilled with the strong momentum of our Services business, with our highest revenue ever for a 13-week quarter. Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome attendees from around the world to our annual Worldwide Developers Conference next month in San Jose."

Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO: "We generated strong operating cash flow of $12.5 billion and returned over $10 billion to our investors in the March quarter. Given the strength of our business and our confidence in our future, we are happy to announce another $50 billion increase to our capital return program today."

As part of the latest update to the program, the Board has increased its share repurchase authorization to $210 billion from the $175 billion level announced a year ago. The Company also expects to continue to net-share-settle vesting restricted stock units.

The Board has approved a 10.5% increase to the Company's quarterly dividend, and has declared a dividend of $0.63 per share of the Company's common stock, payable on May 18, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 15, 2017.

From the inception of its capital return program in August 2012 through March 2017, Apple has returned over $211 billion to shareholders, including $151 billion in share repurchases.

The Company plans to continue to access the domestic and international debt markets to assist in funding the program. The management team and the Board will continue to review each element of the capital return program regularly and plan to provide an update on the program on an annual basis.

A Few Random Points from Tim Cook

• Apple Watch sales more than doubled year over year.

• In mainland China, total store revenue grew 27 percent, comp store revenue grew 7 percent.

• App Store revenue grew 40 percent year over year.

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2017 third quarter:

revenue between $43.5 billion and $45.5 billion

gross margin between 37.5 percent and 38.5 percent

operating expenses between $6.6 billion and $6.7 billion

other income/(expense) of $450 million

tax rate of 25.5 percent

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.