Apple on Monday reported a 12.7% bump in fourth-quarter profit, sending shares up nearly 1% in after-hours trading to just above the $100 mark. Here are the most important points from the tech giant’s latest earnings report.
What you need to know: Apple crushed analyst predictions by posting sales of $42.1 billion in the fourth quarter, which was more than a 12% increase over the same period last year. The company reported $8.5 billion in profits, or $1.43 per share, which is an improvement of $1 billion year-over-year. Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt recently polled a few dozen analysts for their Apple quarterly predictions and every last one said to expect a record quarter for the company, including average sales and earnings bumps of at least 7.1% and 11.9%, respectively.
See Steve Jobs’ Legacy in 16 Photos
1976
Apple I was Apple's first computer, which became obsolete within a year. Today, they are auctioned off as collector's items.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images1977 Apple II was the follow up to the Apple I computer. Apple II proved highly successful and spawned several variations.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images1983 Lisa was Apple's office computer that was the first personal computer to use a graphical user interface. It was a commercial flop, largely because it retailed for a whopping $10,000. Ted Thai—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images1991 NeXT Station was a workstation computer manufactured by NeXT, a computer company Steve Jobs founded in 1985 after he was forced out of Apple. After Apple acquired NeXT in 1996, Jobs rejoined Apple. Kristy MacDonald—dapd/AP1995 Pixar's Toy Story was the film studio's first feature film in 1995. Pixar had spun out from a larger graphics corporation in 1986 with funding from Steve Jobs. Alan Dejecacion—Getty Images1998 The iMac was originally released in 1998, and it was the first Mac computer to have a USB drive but no floppy disk. Many media outlets heralded it as a game changer. Over two million were sold in two years. John G. Mabanglo—AFP/Getty Images1999 The iBook was a line of laptop computers designed for use in schools. The computer, called the "iMac to go," was a huge hit with several upgrades over the years. Ted Thai—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images1999 The Power Mac G3 was a personal computer in the Power Macintosh line. Its upgraded hardware meant it was faster than most other computers on the market. Alan Dejecacion—Getty Images2001 Apple opened its first Apple Stores in 2001, with the original two stores in Virginia and California. On the opening day, thousands of Apple fans stood in line and collectively spent over half a million dollars. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images 2003The iTunes Store is Apple's online digital media store that redefined the music purchase experience and became a runaway success within years. By 2008, it had become the largest music vendor in the U.S. Ian Waldie—Getty Images 2001The iPod followed the release of iTunes and other consumer-facing software. It offered data storage and a sleek design, and soon became the nation's go-to portable music player. Gabe Palacio—Getty Images2006 Macbook Pro was Apple's first computer to use Intel Core processors, replacing PowerBook computers. The Macbook Pro line is Apple's latest laptop collection. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images2005 The Mac Mini was Apple's first consumer-targeted computer to ship without a display, keyboard or mouse, intended to minimize the space taken by a desktop computer.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images2007 The first iPhone was released after years of speculation that Apple would produce a smartphone. It was known for its large touch screen and finger-touch method, as opposed to using a stylus. It was marketed under the slogan "This is only the beginning." Tony Avelar—AFP/Getty Images2008 The App Store is Apple's online marketplace for downloading and developing apps. It was released alongside its iPhone 3G, and both proved to be massive successes. The App Store logged over 10 million downloads on the first weekend.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images2010 The iPad is an Apple tablet computer that met mixed reviews, as users were not sure if it was intended to replace or supplement laptop use, though many praised its ability to connect to WiFi or 3G. That year, the iPad became the leader in the tablet computer market. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images
In July, Apple’s revenues grew by 6%, but came in just below analysts’ expectations despite a 12.6% bump in Q3 iPhone sales.
The big number: Apple said it sold 39.3 million iPhones during the fourth quarter, which beat analysts’ estimates and represents an 11.6% increase over the 35.2 million sold during the same quarter last year. The fourth quarter included September’s unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and the company said in a press release announcing the fourth-quarter results that strong iPhone and Mac sales helped drive a record month of September.
Mac sales jumped 25% year-over-year, to 5.5 million, while iPad sales declined for the third quarter in a row. Apple, which just revealed its new iPad Air 2 last week at a product-launch event, said Monday that its iPad sales were down more than 7%, to 12.3 million, in the fourth quarter.
What you might have missed: Apple’s strong fourth-quarter results came after the company’s mobile-payments system, Apple Pay, went live on Monday along with an update to its mobile operating system, now known as iOS 8.1. The launch came on the heels of Apple announcing it had signed up another 500 banks to support the Apple Pay platform. Apple Pay is expected to compete with PayPal and other online systems. The entire mobile-payments market had more than 11 million users last year and could grow to have more than 36 million users in 2016, according to eMarketer.
