Apple posts blowout third quarter

Apple on Thursday reported a historically strong third quarter, claiming $59.7 billion in revenue — an 11 percent increase from the same time last year. 

The company also announced it plans to give investors three additional shares of the company per each share they already own at the end of August as part of a 4-1 stock split. 

The company’s growth comes as more people flock to their products and services as schools and businesses move to digital platforms. 

Despite widespread retail closures across the country that have impacted Apple, product sales increased substantially. Year-over-year, iPad sales increased by 31 percent and other products, including AirPods and Apple Watch, were up 14.8 percent. 

Revenue the company made from services was up 14.8 percent from the same time last year. The company is on track to meet its goal of $50 billion in services sales this year. 

“In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. 

Facebook and Amazon also reported significant increases in revenue on Thursday while Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported the first revenue decline in the company’s history. 

The reporting comes the day after Cook, along with the CEOs of three other major tech companies, testified before the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust as lawmakers questioned whether their size has given them unfair market power. 

Democratic members pressed Cook on whether competing app developers at a disadvantage on Apple’s App Store, one of two major platforms where apps are downloaded. 

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) used an internal document from Apple executive Phil Schiller to press Cook on promoting the company’s proprietary screen time app while removing competitors.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) accused Cook of changing its commission policies to extract more revenue out of developers who moved to their platform during the pandemic.

“Isn’t this pandemic profiteering?” Nadler asked.

“We would never do that,” Cook responded.