
As the result of strong Mac and iPhone sales, Apple Inc. (AAPL) closed at an all-time high Tuesday, gaining close to 7 percent. The tech giant reporting a leap in earnings of 67 percent in the fourth-quarter of its fiscal year.
Apple reported that sales of the Mac ended over 2 million units for the quarter ending in September, while iPhones sold at over a 1.1 million clip.
Since Apple introduced the iPhone in January, the stock has grown by over 100 percent.
With iPod sales lagging a little, the expected surge during the Holiday season has some analysts projecting the target price of the stock will increase to between $215 to $225.
Shebly Seyrafi of Caris & Co, said, "Apple is firing on all cylinders as Macs will benefit from Leopard (shipping October 26), iPods are benefiting from the strong product cycle introduced recently, and iPhone sales will benefit from lower prices and entry into Europe."
For the fourth quarter, Apple reported earnings of $904 million, or $1.01 per share. Revenue finished at $6.22 billion for the quarter. Last years' fourth quarter ended with $546 million in earnings, or 62 cents per share, based on $4.84 billion in revenue.
For the Macintosh PC, the 2.16 million units sold was the highest ever in a quarter, topping the 2 million mark for the first time.
The good news was over 50 percent of the Macs sold were to consumers that had never bought one before, said Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.
Gross margins also increased by 33.6 percent form last years' 29.2 percent. A lot of that is attributed to lower memory prices.
For iPhones, sales grew to 1.12 million, which brings overall sales to 1.4 million since its June 29 release.
While iPods grew strong, increasing by 17 percent from last year, the 10.2 million units sold were under the estimated 11 million for the quarter. Some feel this will actually spur more sales during the Holiday shopping season, and isn't a negative.
During last years' quarter that ended in December, Apple sold 21 million iPods, and there are expectations they'll do great again.
Guidance for its fiscal first quarter has expectations of $9.2 billion in sales, and earnings of $1.42 a share. Analysts actually have less expectations, with projections of $1.39 a share on $8.58 billion in revenue.
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