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Stocks close out April with their best monthly gains since 1987: April 30, 2020

People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. April 6, 2020. Photo by Nick Oxford/Reuters
Another 3.8 million Americans file for unemployment benefits
03:38 • Source: CNN Business
03:38 • CNN Business
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Covid-19's impact on Apple is muted, so far

Apple said its revenue reached $58.3 billion in the quarter ended in March, a 1% increase from a year earlier. That beat analyst estimates, but fell far short of Apple’s pre-coronavirus guidance of between $63 and $67 billion.

The company began facing the fallout from the coronavirus early on, as the pandemic spread through China, where the bulk of iPhone manufacturing takes place. Apple warned in February that it would miss its previous revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2020. China is also one of the company’s biggest markets, accounting for roughly 15% of its overall revenue.

The results come right after it posted record earnings in the last three months of 2019, spurred by the resurgence of iPhone sales thanks to its latest flagship device, the iPhone 11.

And the pandemic hasn’t stopped Apple from continuing to roll out new devices — it launched a new version of its low-cost iPhone SE earlier this month, as well as new models of the iPad and Macbook Air in March.

United posts its first loss in six years

United Airlines said it expects to burn through $40 million to $45 million a day, on average, during the course of the current quarter, even though it has already grounded about 90% of its flights for the quarter.

But the airline said it has the resources to weather the current coronavirus crisis, despite saying that it has taken demand for air travel to “essentially zero.” As of Wednesday, the company said it has $9.6 billion.

The guidance comes as United reported its first loss since the first quarter of 2014. Overall it reported a loss excluding special items of $639 million, worse than a loss of about $500 million on that basis forecast by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The net loss for the quarter came to $1.7 billion.

Shares of United were lower in after-hours trading following the report.

The company had already warned of a total pre-tax loss of $2.1 billion. Its executives will speak with investors on Friday morning.

The other three major US airlines - American, Delta and Southwest - have all reported first quarter results that included their first losses in years.

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