We're in the thick of earnings reports season, and next up to share the results of the previous quarter is Apple. The Cupertino firm just posted its results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal 2012, revealing that it moved 26.9 million iPhones in the three-month period, a 58 percent growth year over year. Sales of the iPad finished at 14 million in Q4 2012, an increase of 26 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. iPod sales for the quarter finished at 5.3 million, with iPod touch accounting for over half of that figure.
Moving on to financial figures, Apple says that its revenue for the quarter finished at $36 billion, while its quarterly net profit was $8.2 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the company posted revenue of $28.3 billion and a net profit of $6.6 billion. In the quarter ahead, which would be Q1 2013, CFO Peter Oppenheimer says that Apple is expecting revenue of around $52 billion.
Overall it looks like Apple had itself a pretty good Q4 2012, especially in terms of revenue and profit, as the company says that both were record fourth quarter numbers. It's worth noting that the iPhone 5 was only available for the final nine days of this quarter, so it didn't have much time to have an impact on these figures. It'll be interesting to see what kind of numbers Apple can produce in Q1 2013, not only because it'll be a full quarter of iPhone 5 availability, but also because it'll be the first quarter that Apple reports iPad mini sales. That's still a ways out, though, so for now we'll just listen in on Apple's Q4 2012 earnings call to see if the company has any other interesting pieces of data to share.
UPDATE: Some stats shared by Apple during its earnings call include the fact that it's now got 190 million iCloud users and that the Apple TV sold 1.3 million units in Q4 2012. In the fiscal year 2012, Apple TV sold 5 million units, which is up from 2.8 million the previous year.
Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results
26.9 Million iPhones Sold; Record Fourth Quarter Revenue and Profit
Board Declares Quarterly Dividend of $2.65 per Common Share
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012.
“We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”
“We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.”
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 25, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq412. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue and diluted earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 24, 2011, its Forms 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended December 31, 2011; March 31, 2012; and June 30, 2012; and its Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2012 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
