Apple shares soar on increased buyback
Apple increased its buyback and posted a strong second quarter, sending shares soaring.
Shares of Apple soared 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after upping its share buyback and dividend. The company also handily beat Wall Street's profit and sales estimates for the past quarter.
Apple said it will increase its share repurchase program to $130 billion, up from $100 billion. The company also announced an 8% dividend increase to $3.29 per quarter, up 24 cents from the previous $3.05.
Apple also announced a seven-to-one stock split, which will take effect on June 9. That would make the price of a single share of Apple significantly cheaper, paving the way for the company to possibly be included in the benchmark Dow Jones industrial average.
During a quarter when Apple was largely expected to slump, the company recorded 43.7 million iPhone sales, easily beating analysts' forecasts of 38 million smartphones. Apple also beat analysts' Macintosh estimates with 4.1 million sales. But Apple missed iPad forecasts by a wide margin, recording just 16.4 million tablet sales, far below Wall Street's expectation of 19 million iPads sold during the quarter.
The Cupertino, Ca.-based company said its fiscal second-quarter net income rose 7% to $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per share, for the period ended March 31. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings of $10.18 per share.
Sales rose 4.7% to $45.7 billion, topping analysts' forecasts of $43.6 billion. 
First Published: April 23, 2014: 5:05 PM ET
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