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Apple's holiday season proved to be a disappointment
even though the company sold an all-time record number of iPhones and
iPads during its latest quarter that ended on December 28.
The fiscal first-quarter earnings released on Monday topped analyst
projections, but Apple sold fewer iPhones than Wall Street had been
anticipating.
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Management also forecast revenue for the current quarter that fell below
analysts' predictions - despite moving 51 million iPhones, 26 million
iPads and 4.8 million Macs.
Those letdowns caused Apple's stock to shed $41.62, or more than 7.5
percent, to $508.88 in extended trading after the release of results.
The company sold 51 million iPhones during the three months ending just
after Christmas. That marked a 7 percent increase from the previous
record of nearly 48 million iPhones set a year earlier.
Analysts, though, were expecting even bigger things and had predicted
about 55 million iPhones in what is traditionally the company's best
quarter.
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Apple's stock had been rising on the expectation that the company would
clear the hurdle.
Apple sold 26 million iPads during the quarter, in line with analyst
predictions. The iPad volume represented a 14 percent increase from the
same time in 2012 when they sold 22.9 million units.
The Cupertino, California, company sold 4.8 million Macs, compared to
4.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
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Apple Inc. earned $13.07 billion, or $14.50 per share, in the quarter.
That's roughly unchanged from $13.08 billion, or $13.81 per share, in
the prior year.
The per-share figure increased because Apple had fewer shares
outstanding in the recent quarter. Revenue rose 6 percent to $57.6
billion. |