Fourth-quarter revenue, profit up for Apple on iPhone, iPad sales

25.10.2012
Apple ended its 2012 fiscal year with a solid quarter that saw growth for the iPhone and iPad as well as flat Mac sales amid a challenging market for PC makers.

For its fiscal fourth quarter ended on Sept. 29, the company said Thursday that it tallied revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion--its "highest September revenue and earnings ever," according to chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. Those figures were up 27 percent and 24 percent, respectively, from year-ago sales and profits. That translates to $8.67 per share during the fourth-quarter, a 23 percent increase from last year.

Apple's sales topped analysts' expectations of $35.8 billion for the quarter, but fell short of the $8.75 a share earnings that Wall Street was looking for. During the company's , Oppenheimer told analysts to expect $34 billion in revenue and earnings of $7.65 a share.

If Wall Street reacts negatively to Apple missing analysts' earnings expectations, it's likely to also respond poorly to the guidance Apple gave for the coming quarter, which includes the busy holiday season. Oppenheimer says that Apple is expecting to tally revenue of $52 billion and report earnings of $11.75 per share. The revenue forecast would be ahead of the $46.3 billion Apple recorded for its , but its earnings guidance is significantly below the $13.87 per share it tallied for the 2012 holiday quarter. Oppenheimer cited a number of factors for the lower earnings forecast: Apple's first quarter will have only 13 weeks in 2013 as opposed to the 14 weeks in the 2012 quarter; the U.S. dollar is stronger; and gross margins are changing due to the spate of recent Apple product launches.

In a quarter that ended with the introduction of the iPhone 5, Apple says it sold 26.9 million smartphones. That's an increase of 58 percent from last year's fourth quarter, a time when . This quarter's phones sales set a record for the July-to-September time frame, Oppenheimer said.