Apple Posts Monstrous Q2 15 Results with $58 billion in Revenue

China is becoming an increasingly vital part of Apple’s business.

Over the fiscal second quarter, Apple’s revenue in greater China grew 71 percent, to $16.8 billion, compared with the same period last year, the company said in its financial earnings report on Monday.

In total, Apple reported a profit for its fiscal second quarter of $13.6 billion, up from $10.2 billion in the period a year ago. Revenue climbed 27 percent, to $58 billion, from $45.6 billion last year, above the $56.1 billion projected by Wall Street, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, in a statement.

Apple also said it was seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhones from Android smartphones.

Apple said it sold 61.2 million iPhones over the quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of roughly 60 million phones. That also far exceeded the 43.7 million iPhones that Apple sold in the period a year ago.

Apple shares were trading up about 2% on the day and closed today at $132.65, just under that company’s all-time high.

Apple sold more iPhones in greater China than in the U.S. for the first time, buoyed by the New Year gift-giving holiday as the larger smartphones found eager buyers in Asia.

Here’s a closer look at Apple’s impressive numbers:

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2015 second quarter ended March 28, 2015. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $58 billion and quarterly net profit of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $45.6 billion and net profit of $10.2 billion, or $1.66 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.8 percent compared to 39.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 69 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

The growth was fueled by record second quarter sales of iPhone and Mac and all-time record performance of the App Store.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we’ve experienced in previous cycles, and we’re off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch.”

“The tremendous customer demand for our products and services in the March quarter drove revenue growth of 27 percent and EPS growth of 40 percent,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Cash flow from operations was also outstanding at $19.1 billion.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2015 third quarter:

• Revenue between $46 billion and $48 billion
• Gross margin between 38.5 percent and 39.5 percent
• Operating expenses between $5.65 billion and $5.75 billion
• Other income/(expense) of $350 million
• Tax rate of 26.3 percent