Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q3 2011 Earnings Roundup

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) on Tuesday reported that its fiscal third quarter net income jumped to $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per share, from $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue soared 82% to $28.6 billion for the quarter. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $5.73 per share on revenue of $24.75 billion.

The company sold 20.34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 142 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.25 million iPads during the quarter, a 183 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.54 million iPods, a 20 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

"We're thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Right now, we're very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall."

Looking ahead, Apple said that it expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of about $25 billion and earnings per share of about $5.50. 

Full Disclosure: None.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q3 Earnings Preview 2011

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is scheduled to release its fiscal third-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $5.73 per share on revenue of $24.75 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of $3.51 per share on revenue of $15.70 billion.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. Apple has beaten estimates for 31 straight quarters.

In the preceding fiscal second-quarter, the Cupertino, California-based company's net income was  $5.987 billion, or $6.40 per share, compared to $3.074 billion, or $3.33 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $24.67 billion from $13.50 billion in the prior year quarter.. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $5.35 per share on revenue of $23.27 billion. The company said that it sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter.

At its last earnings call in April, Apple said that it expects fiscal third-quarter revenue of about $23 billion and earnings per share of about $5.03. 

Apple continues to make innovative devices which appeal to consumers in a big way. The company is expected to post strong profit and revenues in the latest quarter, benefiting from the sales of its tablet computer iPad as well as the latest version of its wildly popular smartphone, iPhone. Their iPhone sales are nowhere near their maturity and are still in the growth phase. Additionally, enterprise support for iPhone has continually increased.The iPads are just in their infancy. The Mac too is on the move, taking market share from the Windows crowd quarter after quarter.The solid performance of Apple's fast-expanding store base also provides a positive feedback loop in terms of attracting new customers. Apple’s push into ads and TV could become big new sources of growth. 

However, the stock has been weighed mostly by uncertainty over the company’s product plans — which Apple never broadcasts ahead of time. The company has typically launched a new iPhone in the June-July time frame, but is not expected to update its popular smartphone until September, at the earliest. Expectations for a new device may cause some slowdown in sales for the fiscal third quarter ended June 31, as well as the portion of the current period while the market awaits details of the new iPhone. The June quarter is also too early for Apple to see much upside from the back-to-school shopping season for its Mac and iPod lines. The iPad 2 tablet is expected to be a strong seller for the quarter as demand has continued to outstrip supply in many markets.

The main driver of sales in the quarter will still be the iPhone. Most analysts currently expect unit shipments between 17-18 million for the period. While that would be a slight decline from the 18.65 million units shipped in the March quarter, it would more than double iPhone sales in last year’s third quarter, as Apple has added new carriers and markets for the device since that time. Sales of the iPad are expected to be around 8 million units — more than double the 3.27 million shipped in the same period last year, when the device first went on sale. Mac shipments are expected to be around 4 million units, while iPod shipments are expected to come in a little over the 8 million mark.

The company recently introduced iCloud, a new, free service that works seamlessly with applications on one's iPhones, iPads, iPods touch, Macs or PCs to automatically and wirelessly store contents in iCloud and automatically and wirelessly pushes it to all of one's devices. The free iCloud services include the company's former MobileMe services, the App Store and iBookstore etc. The service will also automatically and securely back up all content on all of an individual's iOS devices on a daily basis using WiFi connections. Earlier, Apple unveiled the eighth and latest version of the Mac OS X operating system, called Lion.

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q2 Earnings Preview 2011

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is scheduled to release its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, April 20, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $5.35 per share on revenue of $23.27 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of $3.33 per share on revenue of $13.50 billion.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. Apple has beaten estimates for 31 straight quarters.

In the preceding fiscal first-quarter, the Cupertino, California-based company's net income was  $6.00 billion, or $6.43 per share, compared to $3.38 billion or $3.67 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue jumped 67% to $20.34 billion from $12.21 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $4.06 per share on revenue of $18.86 billion. Gross margin for the fourth quarter dropped to 36.9% from 41.8% in the prior year quarter, while operating margin for the quarter declined to 26.8% from 30.1% a year earlier. IPhone sales soared 91% to 14.1 million units. The company sold 4.19 million iPads during the fourth quarter. 

At its last earnings call in January, Apple said that it expects fiscal second-quarter revenue of about $22 billion and earnings of about $4.90 per share. .

Apple continues to make innovative devices which appeal to consumers in a big way. The company is expected to post strong profit and revenues in the latest quarter, benefiting from the sales of its tablet computer iPad as well as the latest version of its wildly popular smartphone, iPhone. Their iPhone sales are nowhere near their maturity and are still in the growth phase. Additionally, enterprise support for iPhone has continually increased.The iPads are just in their infancy. The Mac too is on the move, taking market share from the Windows crowd quarter after quarter.The solid performance of Apple's fast-expanding store base also provides a positive feedback loop in terms of attracting new customers. Apple’s push into ads and TV could become big new sources of growth. 

During the quarter in review Apple introduced  its new iPad 2 tablet device at a media event in San Francisco. The iPad 2 went on sale at Apple’s own retail stores as well as at retail giants Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) , Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) . The new device has a much larger retail footprint than the first iPad, which was sold only at Apple and Best Buy stores. The March quarter results will also include the launch of the iPhone 4 at Verizon Wireless.

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs's medical leave of absence has caused some concern about who will succeed him. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook has been in charge and is expected to be answering questions tomorrow.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye Sep 25, 2012) of 12.53 and PEG ratio (5 yr expected) of 0.69.  In terms of stock performance, Apple shares have gained nearly 33 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q1 Earnings Preview 2011

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the closing bell on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $5.29 per share on revenue of $24.12 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of $3.67 per share on revenue of $15.68 billion.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. Apple has beaten estimates for 31 straight quarters.

In the preceding fiscal fourth-quarter, the Cupertino, California-based company's net income was $4.31 billion, or $4.64 per share, compared to $2.53 billion, or $2.77 per share, in prior-year quarter. Revenue jumped 67% to $20.34 billion from $12.21 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $4.06 per share on revenue of $18.86 billion. Gross margin for the fourth quarter dropped to 36.9% from 41.8% in the prior year quarter, while operating margin for the quarter declined to 26.8% from 30.1% a year earlier. IPhone sales soared 91% to 14.1 million units. The company sold 4.19 million iPads during the fourth quarter. 

At its last earnings call in October, Apple said that it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings of $4.80 per share on revenue of $23 billion. The company expects gross margins of 36.0%, reflecting approximately $52 million related to stock-based compensation expense. Operating expenses are expected to be $2.33 billion, including about $250 million related to stock-based compensation, while Other Income and expenses are projected to be about $65 million.  Late in October, Apple said in a regulatory filing that gross margins in future periods will likely slip below previous levels as the company focuses on higher end products that cost more to produce.

Apple continues to make innovative devices which appeal to consumers in a big way. The company is expected to post strong profit and revenues in the latest quarter, benefiting from the sales of its tablet computer iPad as well as the latest version of its wildly popular smartphone, iPhone 4. Their iPhone sales are nowhere near their maturity and are still in the growth phase. The iPads are just in their infancy. The Mac too is on the move, taking market share from the Windows crowd quarter after quarter. Sales of Macs rose +26% in the most recent quarter compared with a year ago, while the PC sector grew less than +10%.The solid performance of Apple's fast-expanding store base also provides a positive feedback loop in terms of attracting new customers. Apple’s push into ads and TV could become big new sources of growth. The solid performance of Apple's fast-expanding store base also provides a positive feedback loop in terms of attracting new customers.

Several rival electronics makers are readying their own tablets for the marketplace, including Samsung, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) , Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), maker of the rival BlackBerry smart phone. “We think all of these tablets are going to be DOA — dead on arrival,” Jobs declared in October, adding that rival devices have smaller screens and lack the 30,000 apps available for the iPad.

Among other developments, Apple's operating system iOS 4.2.1 was released on November 22 with support for all Apple A4 devices, 3rd, and 2nd generation devices, with the exclusion of the Apple TV. On December 14, Apple released a new version of Apple TV (version 4.1.1), with features such as enhanced TV resolution. 

Looking ahead to 2011, analysts expect Apple to introduce the long-awaited CDMA iPhone for Verizon customers as well as a new second generation iPad, the iPad 2.

In terms of stock performance, Apple shares have gained nearly 55 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q2 Earnings Preview 2010

Apple is scheduled to release its fiscal second quarter 2010 earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 20, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $2.41 per share in the second quarter with estimates ranging from a low of $1.93 to a high of $2.72 per share. Revenues for the quarter are estimated to be $8.16 billion. In the second quarter of fiscal 2009, the company reported earnings of $2.77 per share on revenue of $7.51 billion.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players, as well as sells various related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions.

In the preceding Q12010, the California-based company reported that its first quarter profit soared nearly 50% to $3.38 billion or $3.67 per share, from $2.26 billion or $2.50 per share, in the prior year quarter. Revenue jumped 32% to an all-time high of $15.68 billion from $11.88 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $2.07 per share on revenue of $12.06 billion. Gross margin for the quarter expanded to 40.9% from 37.9% in the year-ago quarter. The results were primarily boosted by better-than-expected sales of Mac computers, iPhones and iPods.Apple sold 3.36 million Macintosh computers during the first quarter, up 33% over a year earlier. iPhone sales doubled to 8.7 million units in the first quarter, but iPod sales dropped 8% to 21 million units during the quarter.

Apple, known for its conservative outlook, provided earnings forecast for the second quarter that is expected to come in well ahead of the analysts' expectations. Looking ahead to the second quarter of fiscal 2010, Apple anticipates earnings in the range of about $2.06 to $2.18 per share, and revenue of about $11.0 billion to $11.4 billion.

Late in January, Apple unveiled its highly anticipated new touch screen multimedia device "iPad," which resembles the hugely popular iPhone. The device went for sale in U.S. on April 3. Starting at $499, iPad lets users browse the web, read and send email, share photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games and read ebooks. It is 0.5 inches thick and weighs 1.5 pounds and delivers battery life of up to 10 hours. The company sold more than 300,000 iPads in the U.S. on the first day of its launch. As of April 8, 2010, 450,00 iPads had been sold to date.

Meanwhile, iPhone has continued to grow in popularity-more than 50 million iPhones sold with 30,000 new iPhone users added every day, according to Apple. It has sold over 35 million iPod Touches until now around the world. Also, there are now 185,000 applications in the App store.

The company reportedly plans to begin producing a new iPhone this year, which could allow U.S. phone carriers other than AT&T Inc. to sell the gadget. Industry experts believe that Apple is also developing a next-generation iPhone to debut this summer.

Apple will be releasing the iPhone Operating System (OS) 4.0 in the summer and iPod Touch, with the same update available for the new iPad later this year.

In terms of stock performance, Apple shares have gained nearly 15 percent since the beginning of the year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Q1 Earnings Preview 2010

Apple Inc.(NASDAQ: AAPL) is scheduled to release its financial results for first quarter of fiscal year 2010 after the market close on Monday, January 25, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $2.04 a share on revenue of $11.94 billion. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of $1.78 per share on revenue of $10.17 billion.

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players, as well as sells various related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions.

In October, the Cupertino, California-based reported fourth quarter results that blew past expectations. Net income surged 47% to $1.67 billion or $1.82 per share, compared to $1.14 billion or $1.26 per share for the year-ago quarter. Revenue jumped 25% to $9.87 billion from $7.90 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $1.42 per share on revenue of $9.20 billion.

Gross margin for the fourth quarter improved to 36.6% from 34.7% in the prior year quarter, while operating margin for the quarter increased to 22.2% from 18.2% a year earlier.

The results were primarily boosted by better-than-expected sales of Mac computers, iPhones and iPods. Apple sold 3.05 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, up 17% from the year-ago quarter. IPhone sales grew 7% to 7.4 million units while iPod sales fell 8% to 10.2 millions. Analysts expected Apple to sell 2.8 million Macs, 7 million iPhones and 10 million iPods.

For the fiscal first quarter, the company forecast revenue in the range of $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion and earnings in the range of $1.70 to $1.78 per share. Apple, known for providing conservative forecasts, missed analysts' estimates with its earnings and sales forecasts in the previous twelve quarters, then went on to beat those predictions.

Needless to say, the upcoming earnings announcement is expected to highlight another quarter of spectacular growth for quarter for iPhone. In a recent research note to clients, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall said that Apple likely sold 11.3 million phones in the last quarter of 2009. Mac sales are also expected to remain strong. Marshall estimated total Mac sales at 3.3 million units for 2009's final quarter.

The company was quite active on acquisition front in its fiscal first quarter. In December, Apple acquired online music company Lala Media Inc. for undisclosed terms, in order to expand iTunes beyond being a predominantly download service for songs. Early in January, it acquired mobile advertising company Quattro Wireless in order to gain a foothold in the increasingly competitive mobile advertising market and offer direct competition to other players in the mobile ad market including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

Apple is widely rumored to be on the brink of an announcement of its highly anticipated multimedia tablet computer. According to media reports, the company will unveil the device later this month, but does not plan to ship the product until March.

Among other developments, the October-December quarter was also marked by escalation of the dispute between Apple and Finland-based Nokia (NYSE: NOK). In December, the iPhone maker filed a counter-suit in claiming infringement of thirteen Apple patents.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye 26-Sep-11) of 21.99 and PEG ratio (5 yr expected) of 1.46. In terms of stock performance, Apple shares have gained 137 percent over the past year. Shares of the company rose 98 cents or 0.47% to $208.70 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

Disclosure: Long Apple.