Apple released their fourth quarter earnings results this afternoon. Visit Apple for the complete details and a link to the earnings call audio (available for 2 weeks).
A quick summary:
- Quarterly Revenue $36.0 billion
- Net profit $8.2 billion or $8.67 per diluted share
- Gross margin 40.0%
- International sales 60%
- iPhone sales 26.9 million (58% growth over year-ago)
- iPad sales 14.0 million (26% growth over year-ago)
- Mac sales 4.9 million (1% growth over year-ago)
- iPod sales 5.3 million (19% decline over year-ago)
Apple's guidance for 2013 Q1 is:
- Quarterly Revenue $52 billion
- Diluted earnings per share of about $8.67
It's safe to say if there's a disappointment anywhere, it's the iPad numbers. They're weaker than I would have expected. Apple's explanation seems plausible, but perhaps the iPad mini is arriving on the scene at the right time.
I couldn't be more optimistic about Apple's future product line. I think the biggest question mark for next quarter is Apple's ability to manufacture enough products to put in the hands of willing buyers. If they can ramp the new products fast enough, and Tim Cook seemed to believe there were reasons to be optimistic, it will be a monster quarter.
Last year, Apple's Q1 blew right past their guidance to the tune of $9 billion. If they can reproduce that beat, Apple's quarterly revenue will skip the $50 billion mark and land in the low $60 billion range. If they can't ramp quickly enough, the quarter will still be remarkably strong and set up Q2 to be the monster.
It's a good time to be a fan of Apple products.
Full Disclosure: I own a very small number of Apple shares.