Apple Q4 Beats Expectations

iPhone 6 drives iPhone Sales up for great Apple Q4.

Apple today announced the results for its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter ended September 27, 2014. Apple posted quarterly revenue of $42.1 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.5 billion, or $1.42 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $37.5 billion and net profit of $7.5 billion, or $1.18 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 38% compared to 37% in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60% of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $.47 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 13, 2014, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 10, 2014.

“Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With amazing innovations in our new iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, we are heading into the holidays with Apple’s strongest product lineup ever. We are also incredibly excited about Apple Watch and other great products and services in the pipeline for 2015.” 

“Our strong business performance drove EPS growth of 20 percent and a record $13.3 billion in cash flow from operations in the September quarter,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We continued to execute aggressively against our capital return program, spending over $20 billion in the quarter and bringing cumulative returns to $94 billion.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2015 first quarter:

•     revenue between $63.5 billion and $66.5 billion
•     gross margin between 37.5 percent and 38.5 percent
•     operating expenses between $5.4 billion and $5.5 billion
•     other income/(expense) of $325 million
•     tax rate of 26.5 percent

Apple beat its own expectations with the Q4 results driven by outstanding iPhone sales. The iPhone 6 is off to a great start. The stock market is appreciating the strong results and the AAPL stock trades 2.14% higher today getting close again to the $100 mark.