Apple beats estimates; credits iPhone sales
Summary: updated: Apple reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $1.14 billion, or $1.
updated: Apple reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per share, on revenue of $7.9 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.11 per share on $8.05 billion in revenue. (statement) The company credited the strong quarter partly on iPhone sales - "We sold more phones than RIM,” CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement, about Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry.
Still, investors are looking ahead at the holiday season, asking if a new line of iPods and a refresh of the MacBook line can counter the global economic slump and uncertain consumer confidence. The company provided a wide range for its guidance, putting revenue at $9 billion to $10 billion and earnings per share to $1.06 to $1.35. In a statement, company CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, "Looking ahead, visibility is low and forecasting is challenging, and as a result we are going to be prudent in predicting the December quarter."
In the same quarter last year, Apple reported earnings of $904 million, or $1.01 per share, on revenue of $6.22 billion. Gross margins were 34.7 percent, up from 33.6 percent for the same quarter last year.
CEO Steve Jobs made a rare appearance on the conference call and addressed the folks on the call with his take on the success of the iPhone, growth of the App Store and his general thoughts on the downturn. "We are not economists," Jobs said, noting that the company also isn't sure of the impact of the bumpy economic conditions. "We read the same newspapers you do."
Other highlights from the quarter:
- The company sold 6.9 million iPhones, taking the company passed its goal of 10 million sold for 2008 - with two months left in the year. The company said iPhone is now 39 percent of the total business.
- Apple shipped 2.61 million Mac computers, a 21 percent increase over the year-ago quarter. It set a company record for a single quarter.
- More than 11 million iPods were sold, up eight percent from a year ago. The company said it was record for a non-holiday quarter. It's market share for portable music players remained above the 70 percent mark.
- The iTunes store has more than 65 million active accounts and a catalog of 8.5 million titles. It has just added more television shows, renewed its content deal with NBC and added high-def programming.
- The company has $25 billion in cash and zero debt. In a call with analysts, Jobs hinted that the financial position gives the company the "ability to invest our way through this downturn."
- The iPhone App store expects to see its 200 millionth application downloaded by tomorrow, 102 days since the July launch.
Shares of Apple were down 7 percent in regular trading, closing at $91.49. The stock mostly recovered in after-hours trading, jumping to more than 7 percent in active trading.
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Talkback
13 Million iPhones so far this year
makes Apple now the 3rd largest mobile phone supplier.
I guess this must come as a big surprise for many (Shade,
Guiding Light, Sleeper) industry watchers around here.
It is considering...
I suspect you mean the 13 million they've sold since launch in 2007.
I'd also point out they're third biggest by revenue, not sales, which given they sell one premium product isn't surprising.
It's always nice to know the facts, isn't it?
When the "facts" are this good.... It sure is!!!
Especially when one has...
Facts. Like ...
Selling more than 10 million in the year with two and a
half months yet to go?
Facts like outselling estimates and selling a record
number of computers, despite the economic downturn?
I seem to remember seeing you naysayers claim Apple
couldn't do any of the above.
Point out any post where I've said...
Or you can throw your usual baseless assumptions around instead. Whatever.
You can't point out any previous post
The non-existence of specific combinations of words does not mean you never trashed apple, which is what they're talking about. And you know exactly what was meant, but decided to blow some smoke instead of responding to the obvious point of the criticism.
This is a very common (and underhanded) tactic in debating. It's a sign of failure that you had to resort to it.
So basically you can't....
No change there then.
not to worry sleeper
If he'd ever actually used plexiglass, he'd know this.
Is it a thick block of plexiglass?
To the contrary, Len
Because I share a different view of their products then you do, does not mean I wish them poor sales.
I fully understand the mindset of the people purchasing their products, but just because I own their stock should not lead anyone to believe that I would offer any pretense, or make unaccurate or false statements to raise said value. Apple's business model up to this point is still legitimate, so I will invest.
I just will not suffer the fools who would have us believe the offerings are anything more then they are.
And they are?
Yeah. Considering...
to their 10 million goal.
Sour grapes, anyone?
Except
That prediction was also made when...
of Apple's failed goal and proving that Apple would never
sell 10 million during 2008.
Strong performance in all major areas
days and Apple is doing well in all of their main
areas.
While past performance is important, these days
the ability of a company to do well in the next
quarter or two is the concern. Apple's $25 billion
in cash is available for the company to continue at
the same pace in areas like R&D, software
development and engineering. That's impressive
regardless of what computer you use.
RIM 6.1M vs Apple 6.9M
RIM is unsustainable
I think they realise that...
Will it be enough? Who knows?
I can tell you that...
Blackberry users discard their RIMs for iPhones.