Apple shares were up nearly 5% Friday, touching a nine-month high and on track for their biggest daily gain since November, after the iPhone maker’s quarterly results cheered investors worried about a possible recession.
The rally in Apple shares boosted optimism across Wall Street, helping lift the S&P 500 and Nasdaq more than 1.5% after Chief Executive Tim Cook said the results underscored the resilience of corporate earnings in a quarterly reporting season that has so far been less bad than expected.
“Apple reassured the market by its consistency in execution. Tim Cook has a steady hand on the tiller,” said Jake Dollarhide of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Investors in uncertain times want certainty, and Apple, as well as Microsoft, are as close to certainty as you can get.”
The world’s most valuable company posted lower revenue and profit in the quarter ended April 1, but still beat analysts’ expectations. Results were helped by emerging markets such as India, leading executives to say that gross profit margins for the current quarter will be better than expected.
Apple’s stock market value rose by more than $100 billion to around $2.7 trillion, widening its lead over Microsoft, the world’s second most valuable company at $2.3 trillion.
Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company were trading at $173.48 and were on track to post their biggest daily gain since November 30, approaching the $176 reached in August.
Apple shares have rallied nearly 40% from their January closing low and are now 4.7% below their all-time high of January 2022. By comparison, the S&P 500 is still down 15% from its all-time closing high, also in January 2022.
At least 13 analysts raised their price targets for Apple shares following its report, with the median target rising to $180 from $170 pre-report, according to Refinitiv data.