$Apple (AAPL.US)$ reported third-quarter earnings Thursday that exceeded expectations and revenue that grew year-over-year and came in ahead of the Street forecast. The outperformance was aided by strong showings across product categories. Apple shares, which have risen nearly in-line with the broader market this year, climbed 0.96% to $220.96 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Apple's Key Q3 Numbers: Cupertino, California-based Apple reported low-single-digit percentage year-over-year revenue growth for the third quarter, an improvement from the 4.31% decline in the second quarter and in line with the company's guidance issued on the second-quarter earnings call.

Here are the comparisons versus the consensus and prior-year periods:

*according to Benzinga Pro data

Commenting on the results, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said, "Today Apple is reporting a new June quarter revenue record of $85.8 billion, up 5% from a year ago."

"During the quarter, we were excited to announce incredible updates to our software platforms at our Worldwide Developers Conference, including Apple Intelligence, a breakthrough personal intelligence system that puts powerful, private generative AI models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac."

On its second-quarter earnings call, Apple flagged gross margin of 45.5%-46.5%, and a forex headwind of about 2.5 percentage points.

Services revenue reached a new all-time record, but was a tad below the forecast. Sales of the flagship product, the iPhone; the iPad; and the Wearable, Home & Accessories all came in above expectations. Mac revenue also came in shy of estimates.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri said: "We are also very pleased that our installed base of active devices reached a new all-time high in all geographic segments, thanks to very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty."

The company generated nearly $29 billion in operating cash flow.

Apple Shareholder Returns: Apple's board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 25 cents per share, payable on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 12.

Look Ahead: The consensus estimates for Apple's September quarter and full year are as follows:

More details regarding the company's progress with artificial intelligence technology could be forthcoming when the tech giant hosts its earnings call at 5 p.m. EDT.

Apple Stock: For the year-to-date period, Apple stock has added 13.71%, comparable with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's (NYSE:SPY) 14.96% gain and Invesco QQQ Trust's (NASDAQ:QQQ) 12.57% advance.