06:40 AM EST, 01/31/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Apple ( AAPL ) shares rose early Friday as the technology giant recorded better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results, with gains in Mac and iPad sales helping to counter a decline in iPhone revenue.

Per-share earnings came in at $2.40 for the three months through Dec. 28, up from $2.18 the year before, the company said late Thursday, beating the FactSet-polled consensus of $2.35. Sales inclined 4% year over year to $124.3 billion, ahead of the Street's view for $124.14 billion. The stock increased 3.3% in premarket activity.

"Our record revenue and strong operating margins drove EPS to a new all-time record with double-digit growth and allowed us to return over $30 billion to shareholders," Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said in a statement. "We are also pleased that our installed base of active devices has reached a new all-time high across all products and geographic segments."

Sales for iPhone edged down to $69.14 billion from $69.7 billion in the prior-year quarter. The company saw revenue growth for the product in the majority of its markets and logged an "all-time record" for upgrades, Parekh said during a conference call, according to a FactSet transcript.

Mac revenue advanced to $8.99 billion from $7.78 billion while iPad sales climbed 15% to $8.09 billion, amid "significant excitement" and "strong interest" for the latest versions of the two products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on the call. Wearables, home and accessories sales ticked down 2% to $11.75 billion.

Services revenue grew to $26.34 billion from $23.12 billion last year. "Both transacting and paid accounts reached new all-time highs, with paid accounts growing double-digits year-over-year," according to Parekh. "Paid subscriptions also grew double-digits."

Apple ( AAPL ) logged revenue growth in all of its geographic segments, including the Americas, Europe and Japan, except China, which fell to $18.51 billion from $20.82 billion in the 2023 quarter. During the earnings call, Cook attributed over half of the decline in China to a "change in channel inventory from the beginning to the end of the quarter." The company hasn't launched its Apple Intelligence features in the country yet, Cook said.

Looking ahead, the company anticipates overall revenue in the March quarter to increase by low- to mid-single digits on an annual basis, with foreign exchange to be a headwind of about 2.5 percentage points, Parekh told analysts. The Street is looking for sales of $95.12 billion for the ongoing quarter.

Services revenue is pegged to grow by low double digits year over year in the second quarter, while gross margin is forecast to be between 46.5% and 47.5%, Parekh said. Gross margin was 46.9% in the preceding quarter.