Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares turned higher late in Thursday’s after-hours session after being down in reaction to the quarterly report. Despite some sore spots such as the China weakness, analysts and market watchers were positive about the third-quarter performance and the forward outlook. Ives Pleasantly Surprised: “Gold-medal performance in our view,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives in a post on X, formerly Twitter, referring to Apple’s performance in the third quarter. In a note released immediately after the results, Ives said revenue exceeded expectations and iPhone sales also came in above the consensus. “We were not expecting anything special this quarter,” Ives said, adding that iPhone 15, however, remained strong. China revenue was down 6.5% year-over-year, and the decline was a more modest 3% excluding currency headwinds, the analyst said. “We believe growth in China will return to the Cupertino story in the September quarter,” he said. “Overall this was a flex the muscles moment for Cook & Co. despite negative sentiment building around the iPhone growth story.” Ives also highlighted Services revenue which grew in line with the guidance for double-digit growth. He sees the segment remaining the “bedrock of growth in the Apple story.” The analyst commended the healthy gross margin, at 46.3%, which was a tick higher than what the Street was bracing for. He attributed the strength to increasing ASPs continue to drive margins up. Weighing in with his thoughts on the conference call, Ives said, “This ...