Apple's 39 Million In iPhone Sales Drives $8.5 Billion Quarterly Profit

Apple's iPhone Helps Generate $8.5 Billion in Quarterly Profits

APPLE sold 39 million iPHONES last quarter, fueling $8.5 billion in quarterly net profit, according to a story in the NEW YORK TIMES.

Sales of iPHONES, including the new iPHONE 6 models released last month, helped APPLE achieve a record-breaking quarter and offset slowing sales of the iPAD, the company announced YESTERDAY (10/20). APPLE sold 33.8 million iPHONES in the same period last year.  The company’s $8.5 billion in net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter was 13.3% higher than the same quarter a year ago. Revenue over the quarter was $42.1 billion, up from $37.5 billion in the same period last year.

“Demand for the new iPHONES has been staggering,” APPLE CEO TIMOTHY D. COOK said in a financial earnings call with investors.  “I’ve never felt so great after a launch before.”

Still, those numbers do pose some risk for APPLE, which gets about 70% of its profits from the iPHONE, said TONI SACCONAGHI, a financial analyst for SANFORD C. BERNSTEIN research, who points out the company's vulnerability increasingly relying on a single product..

Shares of APPLE rose about 1.5% to $101.25 in after-hours trading.

In the first weekend that the new iPHONES went on sale in SEPTEMBER, APPLE sold 10 million of the devices, up from the nine million new iPhONES sold last year on their opening weekend.

APPLE’s quarterly revenue beat WALL STREET expectations for $39.9 billion, according to a survey of analysts by THOMSON REUTERS.  APPLE’s $1.42 a share profit also exceeded analysts’ expectations for $1.31 a share. For APPLE’s full fiscal year of 2014, profit was $39.5 billion on revenue of $182.8 billion.

The company sold 12.3 million iPads over the quarter, down from 14 million in the same quarter last year.  APPLE also said it sold 5.5 million MACS over the quarter, more than the 4.6 million it sold in the same period last year.

COOK insisted that APPLE was bullish about the iPAD, noting that over four years, the company had sold about 230 million iPADS, which was double the number of iPhones it sold over the first four years.

APPLE told investors that it expected to make $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion of revenue for its fiscal first quarter next year. That compares with $57.6 billion in revenue in the same quarter one year ago.

The company is hoping the APPLE WATCH, due for release early next year, could one day rival the iPHONE in terms of sales and profit.

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