• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 1, 2018

Beating analyst expectations, Apple on Tuesday said revenue surpassed $61 billion during its fiscal second quarter. Year-over-year, that represented an increase of 16%.

Apple CEO Tim Cook attributed the strong performance to robust iPhone sales, along with the continued success its services and wearables divisions.

“Customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter,” Cook stated in prepared remarks. 

Feeling quite confident in its continued success, Apple’s board just approved a $100 billion share repurchase authorization, along with a 16% increase in its quarterly dividend.

The company expects to complete the execution of its previous $210 billion share repurchase authorization during the third fiscal quarter of the year. 

Looking ahead to its fiscal third quarter, Apple said it expects revenue between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion, and gross margin between 38% and 38.5%.

Analysts have recently expressed caution regarding Apple’s hardware business.

For example, Daniel Ives GBH Insights suggested that investors were not expecting to be impressed by the company’s iPhone sales.

Not mentioned on Tuesday was Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, which reportedly isn’t selling as well as expected. That's despite strong pre-orders, the speaker’s high sound quality, and, of course, Apple’s unrivaled brand strength.