Apple announces Q3 results [u]


Apple has announced results for its third fiscal quarter. Revenue came in at $7.46 billion for a net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.8 percent, down from 36.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 42 percent of the quarter's revenue.

"We're extremely pleased with the growth of our business and the generation of almost $5.4 billion in cash in the first three quarters of fiscal 2008," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00."

Apple Online Store


Here are some specifics from the PR and conference call:

2.496-million Macs, 41% unit growth

11-million iPods, 12% unit growth

717K iPhones vs 270K (266%) same quarter last year

25-million AppStore downloads

Average Apple Store revenue of $6.8-million

Overseas Mac volume growing two to five times industry average

France, Germany, Australia posted Mac volume growth of over 50%

US iPod sales grew 10%, international grew 15%

Previously, IGM reported that analysts expected Apple to post sales of 2.5-million Macs, 11-million iPods and 700,000 iPhones. Today's numbers bested their mp3 player and handset guestimates, and gross margin came in above many punters' expectations, though two points off the year-ago quarter figure.

Tune into Apple's live webcast of their regular quarterly analyst conference call for all the details.

Editor's note: Although the big news is that Mac sales continue to soar--amazing--it's a little surprising that iPod sales continue to show double-digit gains in an already mature market segment...

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