Apple Inc. just had another bad quarter.<br />The company’s profit dropped in the third quarter of this year while sales of its flagship smartphone also slid during the period.<br />Even worse, Apple is forecasting another decline in revenue next quarter.<br />Yet, the tech giant’s stock rose on the earnings report, signaling that investors are looking at the latest earnings results in a way which is easing their concerns about the company’s growth.<br />The world’s largest company by market value said it sold 40.4 million iPhones in the three-month period ending in June, down from 47.5 million units a year earlier.<br />The latest slump in unit sales followed a decline in March, which broke the company’s eight-year run of growing iPhone sales.<br />However, the third quarter’s figure slightly beat the average analyst forecast of 40 million iPhones, according to research firm FactSet.
