Apple trumps expectations with quarterly figures

Revenue from iPads fell for the seventh quarter in a row, by 20 percent in the latest three months. The Company posted it’s quarterly revenue of $51.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $ 11.1 billion, or $ 1.96 per diluted share. Quarterly net profit rose 30.6 percent to $8.5 billion with a gross-margin gain to 39.9 percent from 38 percent. While the numbers are overwhelming, the low end forecast was below the estimates made by Wall Street and would represent only a 4% growth over the same period a year ago. This includes revenues from sales of hardware peripherals and Apple-branded and third-party accessories for iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q4 2015 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights. The company has gotten investors accustomed to double-digit growth rates and enormous profit. That sets a high bar for Apple to clear each time and creates tough comparisons to beat later. He likes the stock because of “sturdy” average selling prices; the pickup in people switching to the iPhone; the possibility for replacement cycles to shorten due to the company’s recently announced upgrade program; and possibly a “more favorable mix” as Apple’s services increase the stickiness of its platform. Analysts put this down to seasonal buying and said they expect China to replace the United States as Apple’s biggest market. Analysts appear to realise it, Apple must know it, so why isn’t the press telling us that? “Can the iPhone grow in fiscal 2016?”

What’s different this time is Apple is in part to blame for doubts about its growth trajectory.

Apple has been corporate America’s most ridiculously unbelievable growth story. It rolled out a host of new products – Apple Watch, Apple Pay, Apple Music, a new Apple TV, iPad Pro (available in November) – whose full measure won’t come for at least another year.

Apple said it sold 5.7 million Macintosh computers in the quarter ending September 26, up from 5.5 million in the same period a year ago. Apple sold 5.7 million Macs in Q4, up from 5.5 million in Q4 2014.

As the mobile phone sector begins to mature, AAPL needs to grow market share by taking if from Android devices if it’s going to continue to grow at the current pace. Global sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue.