Apple Inc. pulled in a juicy harvest this fall, as its quarterly earnings blew past analysts' expectations and sent its stock to an all-time high.
The maker of the ubiquitous iPod music player, Mac computers and laptops, and the wildly popular iPhone, yesterday announced its profit rose 47 per cent, year-over-year, in its fourth quarter, ending Sept. 26.
The release of a newer, cheaper iPhone in June contributed to Apple's growth. Consumers who saw greater affordability in a $99 (U.S.) handset snapped up 7 per cent more iPhones than they did in the same quarter last year, moving 7.4 million devices.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company's Mac computers saw a bigger improvement: 3.1 million Macs were sold, up 19 per cent year-over-year, after updates to its operating system and MacBook Pro laptops.
Apple said its revenues were up 25 per cent, at $9.9-billion.
It wasn't the first time Apple has exceeded Wall Street's expectations in its quarterly reports, even amid the global economic downturn, but the latest quarter marks a "historic showing," said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst based in Thornhill, Ont. "It represents a high-water mark," he said.
"It's probably the best piece of news that the broader consumer products market could have had in the lead-up to the holiday buying season," Mr. Levy said. "We've been in recession for so long that investors, consumers, as well as members of our government, grab on to any piece of good news and hold on to it for dear life. This is as concrete as it gets."
That good news sent Apple shares soaring to an all-time high in extended trading, at one point hitting $204, shattering the stock's previous record of $202.96 reached on Dec. 27, 2007. Trading should continue to be strong once the market opens today, Mr. Levy said.
"There's the typical Apple bounce," he said. "There will be a lot of investors now who, buoyed by Apple's strength when some of them wouldn't have expected Apple to have much strength in a down market, will be rushing to come in."
The one area where Apple struggled in the fourth quarter was in sales of its iconic iPod mp3 players. Consumers bought 8-per-cent fewer iPods than they did during back-to-school season last year. However, the iPod Touch model improved, doubling its revenue year-over-year.
Apple brought in $1.7-billion, or $1.82 per share in the quarter. The overall picture for 2009 shows the company's profits up 18 per cent, at $5.7-billion.
On a conference call, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said executives were thrilled to see growth during "extraordinarily challenging economic times."
The results bode well for Apple as it looks forward to the holiday buying season, Mr. Levy said. "It's all a matter of psychology. If the psychology is positive, [consumers]will open their wallets," he said.
"Apple is a halo company. These results will cast a halo over not just the tech market, but the consumer products market. They do illustrate that there still is optimism in some pockets."
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Apple
Q4 / 2009 / 2008
Profit / $1.67-billion / $1.14-billion
EPS / $1.82 / $1.26
Revenue / $9.87-billion / $7.9-billion
All figures in U.S. dollars
Source: Company reports