Apple Q4 Revenue, Profit Down

Tough Year So Far

APPLE reported Q4 2016 revenue of $46.9 billion, down 9%, and net income of $9 billion, down 19% from Q4 2015. Gross margin was 38% compared to 39.9% in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 62% of the quarter’s revenue.

Overall, the company sold 45.5 million iPHONES, five percent fewer than the 48 million it sold in the same quarter a year earlier.

Although it was APPLE's first annual revenue decline in 15 years, the numbers largely do not include the launch of the iPHONE 7, which went on sale a week before the end of the quarter. APPLe and analysts expect it to refuel growth in the current quarter.

“Our strong SEPTEMBER quarter results cap a very successful fiscal 2016 for APPLE,” CEO TIM COOK said. “We’re thrilled with the customer response to iPHONE 7, IPHONE 7 Plus and APPLE WATCH Series 2, as well as the incredible momentum of our Services business, where revenue grew 24 percent to set another all-time record.”

“We are pleased to have generated $16.1 billion in operating cash flow, a new record for the SEPTEMBER quarter,” APPLE CFO LUCA MAESTRI said. “We also returned $9.3 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter and have now completed over $186 billion of our capital return program.”

APPLE offered the following guidance for its fiscal 2017 first quarter:

• revenue between $76 billion and $78 billion
• gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5%
• operating expenses between $6.9 billion and $7 billion
• other income/(expense) of $400 million
• tax rate of 26%

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