Apple's (AAPL) App Store Reports Record New Year's Day Sales

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) enjoyed a scintillating New Year’s Day as the App Store reported record sales of $300 million. Moreover, customers spent more than $890 million in the App Store during the week which began on Christmas Eve.

Notably, Apple reported sales of almost $240 million on New Year’s Day, 2017. During the holiday season (December 2016), App Store sales topped $3 billion, which is a record in the company’s history.

Nintendo’s Pokemon Go topped App Store charts on Dec 21, 2017. The game enjoyed strong demand owing the addition of new augmented reality features supported by Apple’s ARKit framework.

The company also announced that iOS developers earned $26.5 billion in 2017, up more than 30% from 2016. However, the figures declined from 40% growth reported in 2016.

Apple Inc. Price and Consensus

Since the launch of App Store in July 2008, iOS developers have earned more than $86 billion.

Strong iPhone Demand Boosts App Store Sales

Tghe launch of new devices — iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X — played a key role in attracting customers to the App Store during the holiday season.

Per a recent data, Apple’s older models have not lost potency. According to TechCrunch, which quoted data from Flurry Analytics, older devices — iPhone 7 and iPhone 6 — took the top spots in terms of activations during the holidays.

Strong sales growth reflects the stickiness and superior app offerings of the newly redesigned App Store, which is compatible on iOS 11.

Services Business Gains Traction

The robust performance of the App Store bodes well for Apple’s Services business. Services, which include revenues from Internet Services, App store, Apple Music, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services, surged 34% year over year to nearly $8.5 billion in the last quarter.

Apple is on track to double Services revenues of $24 billion in fiscal 2016 by 2020. To boost subscriber base, the company is now venturing into original programming. Per reports, Apple is set to invest $1 billion and has appointed ex-Sony executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, to initiate expansion into original television programming.

Moreover, Apple is likely to launch streaming service in 2018, which will provide a significant boost to the Services business.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks

Currently, Apple carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other top-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are IntriCon Corporation (NASDAQ:IIN) , Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) and Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth for IntriCon, Western Digital and Yelp are currently pegged at 20%, 25.1% and 26.6%, respectively.

Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock

Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.

Download it free >>