Apple profits rise 58 percent as Mac sales top 2.3 million

[AppleInsider]

Apple said Tuesday that first-quarter profits rose 58 percent to $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share, on sales of $9.6 billion for the three-month period ended December 29, 2007.

The results compare to revenue of $7.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $1 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 31.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 45 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple shipped 2,319,000 Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing 44 percent unit growth and 47 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The company also sold 22,121,000 iPods, representing five percent unit growth and 17 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone sales came in at 2,315,000.

"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks."

Overall, Apple's revenue grew 35 percent year-over-year to $9.6 billion, an increase of almost $2.5 billion over the previous December quarter's record-breaking results.

"Our strong results produced cash flow from operations of over $2.7 billion during the quarter, yielding an ending cash balance of over $18.4 billion," said Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. "Looking ahead to the second quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $6.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.94."

Apple will conduct its Q1 2008 financial results conference call in about 30 minutes -- AppleInsider will provide full coverage.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[green-bee.salsa]

Earnings were ok, guidance low as usual ($0.94 per share).

[studiomusic]

SWEET! Now watch the selloff tomorrow...

[corvette]

christ, already down 13% in afterhours.

[Samnuva]

So why is stock down 18 points? thats how much it should be up!

[shanmugam]

looks like on track to sell 10 million iPhone in 2008

[g3pro]

Nice, AAPL is down to $136. It could stand to lose another 20% in value though.

Is it too early to say "I told you so"?

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by g3pro

Is it too early to say "I told you so"?

Yeah.

[bwik]

Those are very nice earnings. Whatever the stock does, I don't care.

People could not have reasonably expected better. So, they are just selling perhaps because they need money NOW for some reason. Since I don't, I will sit tight. Somewhat surprised at the strength of these holiday earnings.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by g3pro

Nice, AAPL is down to $136. It could stand to lose another 20% in value though.

It could also go to zero. Nothing is guaranteed.

Where did you get that figure? Google finance shows $140.

[studiomusic]

Man, people are just over-reacting to Heath Ledger's death...

[markb]

Clearly a rational, well thought out move. Apple's (KNOWN TO BE CONSERVATIVE) estimates come in $200 million under the streets for next quarter so investors knock $15 billion off the valuation.

[g3pro]

Originally Posted by markb

Clearly a rational, well thought out move. Apple's (KNOWN TO BE CONSERVATIVE) estimates come in $200 million under the streets for next quarter so investors knock $15 billion off the valuation.

Apple might be a little high in their estimates this time around, especially considering that the severity of the upcoming recession is not known yet. The ramifications from the debt crises are not fully known yet, and so far we have seen devastating results for most of the lenders and banks out there.

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by g3pro

Apple might be a little high in their estimates this time around, especially considering that the severity of the upcoming recession is not known yet. The ramifications from the debt crises are not fully known yet, and so far we have seen devastating results for most of the lenders and banks out there.

And they might be low, they tend to be conservative in their forward numbers.

So did you actually short AAPL?

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by Samnuva

So why is stock down 18 points? thats how much it should be up!

Maybe it's because people are equating Apple to be only the iPod and see that they only had 5% growth in iPod sales, and they are totally ignoring the strong increase in Mac sales and huge leaps in profit?

Maybe now is the time to buy more Apple?

[tuneman07]

The MBA will sink Apple.

[bigdaddyp]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

The MBA will sink Apple.

Apple is teh DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Apple has never been positioned better. They have a huge cash reserve to survive a economic slow down and great hardware and software that people are buying.

[tuneman07]

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

[TenoBell]

The MBA will sink Apple.

Wouldn't have been a proper quarterly conference call without a prediction of doom.

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

Outside of your esteemed opinion, what other evidence do you have of this?

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

The MBA will sink Apple.

Spoken like a true expert. So which Fortune 500 company did you build?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

I'm sorry (OK, I'm not), but really, you're being a woefully ignorant idiot. If you don't understand or know what's going on in the world's stock markets over the last week, you shouldn't post as if you think you know anything about stocks. Go to Google Finance or Yahoo Finance and take a look at how well the markets are doing and read up on what's going on.

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

Ah... the smell of envy.

You're just angry because you can't afford to buy AAPL stock, right?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Samnuva

So why is stock down 18 points? thats how much it should be up!

Low quidance for next quarter. This is what always pulls Apple's stock down after the call, or after numbers are released.

This time, it was helped by the lower numbers of iPods sold, and the problems in the economy, and market together.

It's a conspiracy of events.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

It could also go to zero. Nothing is guaranteed.

Where did you get that figure? Google finance shows $140.

The numbers on my real time account show 138.26 to 138.48 as of 6:32.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by g3pro

Apple might be a little high in their estimates this time around, especially considering that the severity of the upcoming recession is not known yet. The ramifications from the debt crises are not fully known yet, and so far we have seen devastating results for most of the lenders and banks out there.

I doubt it. Apple has economists on their staff as does every other large company. They are just as qualified as you are to work this into their estimates.

The market is usually hysterical in its actions, both on the upside, where Apple was too high, and on the downside, where Apple is now too low.

I plan to buy more later this week, as I did last week.

[minderbinder]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

The one thing that has really amazed me today...

So many doom and gloom posts on different boards...and I have yet to see anyone use the term "beleaguered". Seriously, if you want to be taken seriously as a doomsayer, you have to use the B word.

[asdasd]

great news. nothing like a market overreaction on he downside to make my share buying day.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

Yea they have never had a heavier lead anchor than the MBA either. This thing will continue to cause these terrible stock drops. I feel bad for anyone with AAPL right now.

Originally Posted by coolfactor

Spoken like a true expert. So which Fortune 500 company did you build?

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by minderbinder

The one thing that has really amazed me today...

So many doom and gloom posts on different boards...and I have yet to see anyone use the term "beleaguered". Seriously, if you want to be taken seriously as a doomsayer, you have to use the B word.

That's funny.

Notwithstanding after-hours, let's see what Apple (and the market) does tomorrow. I think that cooler heads will prevail.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

Maybe it's because people are equating Apple to be only the iPod and see that they only had 5% growth in iPod sales, and they are totally ignoring the strong increase in Mac sales and huge leaps in profit?

Maybe now is the time to buy more Apple?

Totally correct on both counts. If people only know about Apple though iPods then they need an education.

[asdasd]

Totally correct on both counts. If people only know about Apple though iPods then they need an education.

true and also this from the conference call: Apple may have traded unit volume in the short term but believes it made the right decision. ipod were not so strong YOY in iPod sales growth not because of saturation but because the touch was more expensive. revenue was 15 up.

[greg07]

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/new...ctory-workers/

According to this, ipod workers are paid $50 a month. This needs context, becasue $50 a month may go along way.

$50 (im assuming US$) = (around) 350 Chinese dollars, per month. By comparison, a primary school teacher in a poor province would earn about 1500-2200 Chinese dollars a month, with insurance and housing support (as well as only 8-9 hour days).

A worker I know who does a really manual job in the railway in a poorer city, gets around 1000 per month, with benefits (and free decent housing).

So, in light of this, the praise for the huge profits is quite disturbing.

[talksense101]

Originally Posted by greg07

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/new...ctory-workers/

According to this, ipod workers are paid $50 a month. This needs context, becasue $50 a month may go along way.

$50 (im assuming US$) = (around) 350 Chinese dollars, per month. By comparison, a primary school teacher in a poor province would earn about 1500-2200 Chinese dollars a month, with insurance and housing support (as well as only 8-9 hour days).

A worker I know who does a really manual job in the railway in a poorer city, gets around 1000 per month, with benefits (and free decent housing).

So, in light of this, the praise for the huge profits is quite disturbing.

If physical labour in the railways pays you three times more, what exactly is the reason for skilled labour to be stuck working on a iPod assembly unit? Don't tell me Apple is the De Beers of the electronics industry with machine gun mounted helicopters and the government and military in their payroll! Maybe iPods should carry a sticker on them stating "No humans and dolphins were killed during the manufacture of this unit."

Better still, lets start a trolls anonymous support group for AI.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by talksense101

If physical labour in the railways pays you three times more, what exactly is the reason for skilled labour to be stuck working on a iPod assembly unit? Don't tell me Apple is the De Beers of the electronics industry with machine gun mounted helicopters and the government and military in their payroll! Maybe iPods should carry a sticker on them stating "No humans and dolphins were killed during the manufacture of this unit."

Better still, lets start a trolls anonymous support group for AI.

Workers in factories have actually been striking the past 18 months or so, and have been getting much better saleries and benefits.

Interestingly, interviews with factory managers and owners have shown that it's getting harder to find workers for factories. There is a labor SHORTAGE!.

One reason given is that as the economy in the countryside has gotten better, fewer prople have been migrating to factory towns. Those who are left have demanded better conditions, and managers have been obligated to give it to them.

This isn't surprising, except in that it's already happening.

The vast amount of pollution, and the erratic production of electricity, in China, is also causing steep rises in production costs.

Amazingly enough, some Chinese companies have been opening factories in Vietnam because they feel they are being squeezed by customers demanding lower prices, and workers demanding more salary and benefits.

[tuneman07]

The problem is Steve Jobs spent about 27 billion dollars to develop the MBA that is the reason it is so expensive- its really a catch 22.

[petermac]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

The problem is Steve Jobs spent about 27 billion dollars to develop the MBA that is the reason it is so expensive- its really a catch 22.

Go and take your ill considered comments somewhere else, like a Dell forum or something. I'd bet Apple spent more developing the iPhone than the MBA.

Enjoy your delusional rantings, I do.

[nvidia2008]

Apple is teh doomed, ind33d.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by tuneman07

The problem is Steve Jobs spent about 27 billion dollars to develop the MBA that is the reason it is so expensive- its really a catch 22.

Stop with your idiotic lies. Stupid troll. If you're going to make up numbers, make one up that doesn't sound like a zealot made it up. You keep clutching that stupid notion that the MBAir is killing Apple. Even if MBAir doesn't sell a single unit, it's not going to kill Apple.

[asdasd]

That was a well hidden 27B cost for the MBA. Maybe he funded it himself because it didn't show up in Apples figures.

[rickag]

Originally Posted by asdasd

great news. nothing like a market overreaction on he downside to make my share buying day.

+++ Record profits, record units sold, new iPhone generating a continuing source of revenue. Wish I had more savings to invest in more AAPL.

There may be further declines, but the future of AAPL is very bright. The P/E ratio is very low at about 29, has been in the upper 40s and it will be back there soon enough.