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Apple Profit Climbs 12% On Strong IPhone Sales(dpa-AFX International Compact Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Apple Inc. (AAPL) said Tuesday after the markets closed that its third quarter profit rose 12% from last year, as sales surged and margins improved amid strong sales of its iPhones and Nac computers. The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations, but its quarterly sales fell short of analysts' forecast. At the same time, the company forecast fourth quarter revenue below analysts' current consensus estimate. "Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. Apple also declared a cash dividend of $0.47 per share, payable on August 14 to shareholders of record on August 11. Apple shares are currently losing 0.31% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $94.70, up 76 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $59.82 to $97.10. The company's share price reflect the recently effected seven-for-one stock split. Apple sold 35.2 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 13% from 31.2 million in the same quarter last year. Apple is said to be readying production of supersized iPhones. The large iPhones will boast screens of 4.7 and 5.5 inches in size, and are reportedly making their way to retailers in September. The company sold 4.4 million Macs in the quarter, up 18% from 3.75 million in the prior year quarter. However, iPad sales for the third quarter fell 9% to 13.3 million units from 14.6 million units a year earlier. Third quarter sales of the company's iPod music players dropped 37% to 2.9 million units. The company's America revenue grew 1% year-over-year, while Europe revenue increased 6% and Greater China revenue surged 28%. Japan revenue increased 1%, while rest of Asia-Pacific revenue climbed 6% from a year earlier. For the third quarter ended June 28, 2014, the Cupertino, California-based computing and electronics company reported net income of $7.7 billion or $1.28 per share, compared to $6.9 billion or $1.07 per share for the year-ago quarter. On average, 45 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.23 per share for the third quarter. This marks the second straight quarter that the company has reported year-over-year profit increase following four quarters of profit declines. Gross margin for the quarter improved to 39.4% from 36.9% in the prior year quarter, while operating margin for the quarter increased to 27.5% from 26.0% a year earlier. Net sales for the third quarter rose 6% to $37.43 billion from $35.32 billion in the same quarter last year. forty-two analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $37.99 billion for the third quarter. Looking forward to the fourth quarter, the company forecasts revenue of $37 billion to $40 billion and gross margin of 37% to 38%. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $40.44 billion for the fourth quarter. In a departure from their erstwhile rivalry in the PC space, Apple and IBM Corp (IBM) earlier this month agreed to cooperate in the mobile arena; envisaging creation of a new class of business apps as well as sales of iPhones and iPads to IBM's corporate customers. The deal is part of efforts by Apple to broaden sales of its iconic devices beyond the realm of lay-consumers; while IBM, traditionally focused on making chips for PCs, seeks to expand its business software into the mobile devices arena. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |