Apple Posts $36 Billion / €27 Billion in Revenue for Q4 – 2012

Apple has announced the financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter which ended September 29, 2012. The Mac maker posted $36 billion / €27 billion in quarterly revenue, and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion / €6.3 billion or $8.67 / €6.7 per diluted share.

Apple’s reported earnings of $8.67 / €6.7 per share fell below the $8.75 expected by analysts, but its revenues were higher than expected at $35.97 billion, which translates into about €27 billion.

The results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion / €21 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion / €5 billion, or $7.05 / €5.4 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin was 40.0 percent, a point-three unit decline compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple also said that 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue came from International sales.

As far as the products themselves are concerned, Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, which made for a 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

Some 14 million iPads were also shipped, which represents a 26 percent unit increase.

The Macintosh segment saw a mere 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter with 4.9 million Macs sold.

Lastly, Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, which marked a new decline from the year-ago quarter – by 19 percent. iPod sales have been on the low for years now.

The press release also mentions that Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share payable to shareholders of record on November 15, 2012 (as of the close of business on November 12, 2012).

Commenting on Apple’s quarterly earnings, CEO Tim Cook said, “We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results. 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.”

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said, “We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012. 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.”

Those who are looking to get the full scoop can access Apple’s Q4 2012 conference call at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq412. The webcast is available for replay for approximately two weeks.