Apple sales roar to beat all expectations sending shares surging 4%

Firm thrived as home-bound consumers stocked up on electronic devices and signed up for paid apps and services for fitness and music

People stand in front of an Apple store advertising 5G capable phones. Picture: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Apple posted sales and profits last night far ahead of Wall Street expectations and announced a $90bn (€74.5bn) share buyback as customers continued to upgrade to 5G iPhones and snapped up new Mac models with Apple's house-designed processor chips.

Sales to China nearly doubled and results topped analyst targets in every category, led by $6.5bn more in iPhone sales than predicted and Mac sales about a third higher than estimates.