Apple has reported on-year increases in both revenues and earnings for its fiscal 2017 second quarter ended April 1, 2017. Revnues for the quarter came to US$52.9 billion and earnings per diluted share reached US$2.10, compared to revenues of US$50.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of US$1.90 in the year-ago quarter.

International sales accounted for 65% of the quarter’s revenues, said Apple.

“We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve seen great customer response to both models of the new iPhone 7 RED Special Edition and we’re thrilled with the strong momentum of our Services business, with our highest revenue ever for a 13-week quarter."

Apple expects its fiscal 2017 third quarter to generate revenues between US$43.5 billion and US$45.5 billion; gross margin between 37.5% and 38.5%; operating expenses between US$6.6 billion and US$6.7 billion; and other income/(expense) of US$450 million.

Apple also announced that its board of directors has authorized an increase of US$50 billion to the company’s program to return capital to shareholders and is extending the program timeframe by four quarters. Under the expanded program, Apple plans to spend a cumulative total of US$300 billion by the end of March 2019.

“We generated strong operating cash flow of US$12.5 billion and returned over US$10 billion to our investors in the March quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Given the strength of our business and our confidence in our future, we are happy to announce another US$50 billion increase to our capital return program today.”

As part of the latest update to the program, Apple said its board of directors has increased its share repurchase authorization to US$210 billion from the US$175 billion level announced a year ago.

The board has approved a 10.5% increase to the company’s quarterly dividend, and has declared a dividend of US$0.63 per share of the company’s common stock, payable on May 18, 2017 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 15, 2017.

From the inception of its capital return program in August 2012 through March 2017, Apple has returned over US$211 billion to shareholders, including US$151 billion in share repurchases.