Apple sells 26.9 million iPhones in record 4th quarter revenue and profit

Still buzzing from a slew of huge product announcements last week inclduding the much awaited ipad mini, Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ending September 29, 2012.

Apple 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.

26.9 million iPhones were sold 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.  4.9 million Macs were sold 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 indicating that the personal media player's popularity may be tapering off.

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.