Apple beats on revenue but sees profits fall for first time in a decade

AppleInsider · April 23, 2013 3:39PM

Apple on Tuesday said second quarter profits fell roughly 18% to $9.5 billion -- or $10.09 per diluted share -- despite record second quarter sales of $43.6 billion -- the first year-over-year decline in earnings for the one-time tech darling in over a decade.

The results for the three-month period ended March 30, 2013 compare to revenue of $39.2 billion and net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37.5 percent, approximately 100 basis points lower than the 47.4 percent reported in the year-ago quarter, as consumers gravitated to more affordable, lower-margin products like the iPad mini.

During the quarter, Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads, compared to 35.1 million iPhones and 11.8 million iPads in the year-ago quarter. The company also said it sold just under 4 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter. Overall, international sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter?s revenue.

"We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad,? said Tim Cook, Apple?s CEO. ?Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.?

Looking ahead to the current June quarter, Apple provided following guidance:

revenue between $33.5 billion and $35.5 billion
gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent
operating expenses between $3.85 billion and $3.95 billion
other income/(expense) of $300 million
tax rate of 26%

"Our cash generation remains very strong, with $12.5 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and an ending cash balance of $145 billion," said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.

For Apple, Tuesday's results mark the first year-over-year decline in profits since the first quarter of 2003 when the "early 2000s recession" began to set in stateside. The company will provide live streaming of its Q2 2013 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on April 23, 2013.AppleInsider will provide its usual in-depth coverage.

guytoronto · April 23, 2013 3:43PM

Only $9.5 billion in profit? DOOMED, I TELL YOU! DOOMED!!!

jollypaul · April 23, 2013 3:43PM

"...we are very excited about the products in our pipeline."

Oh, well then.

mazda 3s · April 23, 2013 3:43PM

Oh man, this thread is going to be a bloodbath. Since I got an iPhone 5 last year, I'm sitting out the phone upgrade cycle this year, but I'm eagerly awaiting the iPad 5... hopefully Apple will deliver the goods and wow us with some more great products to get back on track.

philboogie · April 23, 2013 3:44PM

Here come the posters saying this bodes well for the stock; a decline in profit can only make the stock go up because history is indeed an indication ¡

philboogie · April 23, 2013 3:46PM

mazda 3s wrote: »

...back on track.

Not sure what you mean by that. Do you think they lost track? Why so? I obviously don't think so, otherwise I wouldn't be asking.

mstone · April 23, 2013 3:49PM

After hours share price is down a tad .03% but holding up pretty well considering all the predictions of doom.

oops now it is up 4% so the street apparently likes the numbers.

pedromartins · April 23, 2013 3:50PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilBoogie

Here come the posters saying this bodes well for the stock; a decline in profit can only make the stock go up because history is indeed an indication ¡

you have take the circumstances into account, this was Fantastic.

All the bad news, no new products, no talks, everything pointed for some sort of catastrophe, and here they are, beating stupid inflated expectations.

aaarrrgggh · April 23, 2013 3:51PM

guytoronto wrote: »

Only $9.5 billion in profit? DOOMED, I TELL YOU! DOOMED!!!

Sure, if you are ok with $8B next year, $6.5B the following year, and $5.5B the next it is fine. The concern is not what they did today, it is that it isn't as good as yesterday, and what it might look like tomorrow! For a stockholder, the implied PE of that kind of move is about a 4.0.

Their share repurchase plan sounds good; hopefully they already bought some 2014 calls and locked in the price before the announcement. Basically, the shares they are taking off the table reinforces the idea that they expect 15% declines in profits to be sustained for a while.

Guess I won't be retiring any time soon. Oh well.

solipsismx · April 23, 2013 3:51PM

1) Lower profits and lower profit margins after an unprecedented lull between events doesn't look good. One time isn't a pattern so no one should go crazy over this but I sure hope Apple has some major things planned and they are successful.

2) Stock up 5% in after-hours trading. Apparently being less successful is the key to increasing your stock value¡

gatorguy · April 23, 2013 3:51PM

From yesterdays projections:

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Apple to report revenue of $42.49 billion with earnings per share of $10.07. Record iPad sales are expected, while the iPhone may also reach new March quarter highs. But investors also expect Apple's profits to shrink year over year for the first time in a decade.

This year the market has a consensus expectation of 36.4 million units, which would be a new March quarter record, according to Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank.

Consensus calls for Apple to have sold between 18 and 19 million iPads, according to Wu, which would be a significant increase from the 11.8 million Apple sold a year ago.

As for the Mac, Wu said market consensus is calling for 3.8 million to 3.9 million units.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/157109/earnings-preview-apple-expected-to-report-record-ipad-sales-first-shrinking-profit-in-a-decade

Surprisingly close.

stelligent · April 23, 2013 3:51PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilBoogie

Here come the posters saying this bodes well for the stock; a decline in profit can only make the stock go up because history is indeed an indication ¡

The stock is stable in after hours trading. Lots of shares changing hands but the price is stable, mostly because Apple hit the numbers.

Say what we will about the analysts, they more or less nailed the numbers as a group.

No report on iPod sales?

p.s. Spoke too soon. The stock just spiked 5%. Slower reaction than I expected. I could have made millions just now

mazda 3s · April 23, 2013 3:52PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilBoogie

Not sure what you mean by that. Do you think they lost track? Why so? I obviously don't think so, otherwise I wouldn't be asking.

Back on track to making some more exciting products. I know that Apple can't "wow" everyone with every single product release, but I think that the smartphone/tablet markets are getting to the point where "just being made by Apple" is not enough to guarantee a sale.

And I know Tallest Skill would probably shoot me point blank in the face with a shotgun for saying this, but I'm ready for an iOS UI "reboot" or at least a heavy facelift. Reports say that some touchup paint is coming with iOS 7, so I'm hopeful.

bdkennedy1 · April 23, 2013 3:55PM

OMG what with the music on the live stream??!! Are we waiting for the Queen to appear?

stelligent · April 23, 2013 3:55PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatorguy

From yesterdays projections:

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Apple to report revenue of $42.49 billion with earnings per share of $10.07. In comparison, a year ago the company made $12.30 earnings per share on sales of $39.19 billion.Record iPad sales are expected, while the iPhone may also reach new March quarter highs. But investors also expect Apple's profits to shrink year over year for the first time in a decade.

http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/157109/earnings-preview-apple-expected-to-report-record-ipad-sales-first-shrinking-profit-in-a-decade

Surprisingly close.

Not surprising. At least, not anymore. While some of their product predictions are absurd, analysts have often impressed me with their predictions of quarterly financials (in general, not necessarily just about AAPL), at least as a group. It's time we give them some measure of credit. How much? I am not sure yet.

aaarrrgggh · April 23, 2013 3:56PM

solipsismx wrote: »

Lower profits and lower profit margins after an unprecedented lull between events doesn't look good.

Yeah... I was disappointed they didn't do any better on Mac units with stock available. The lack of recovering margins would seem to indicate they aren't controlling costs. I'll echo your "hopefully they have something big coming," because without it they are going to need to change a lot as a company.

teamracer · April 23, 2013 3:56PM

And most people thought that the analysts who predicted a fall in profits were idiots.

mstone · April 23, 2013 3:56PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

OMG what with the music on the live stream??!!

It's a conference call. You're on hold.

tallest skil · April 23, 2013 3:57PM

Originally Posted by Mazda 3s

And I know Tallest Skill would probably shoot me point blank in the face with a shotgun for saying this, but I'm ready for an iOS UI "reboot" or at least a heavy facelift.

Hey, as long as you have specific ideas, I want to hear everything!

"It's stale." "Why?" "Shut up, it's stale, doomed." just doesn't cut it, though.

bdkennedy1 · April 23, 2013 3:58PM

On hold where? A ballroom at the White House?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstone

It's a conference call. You're on hold.

crowley · April 23, 2013 3:59PM

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/04/23Apple-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results.html

Am I reading it right that they expect all their metrics to decrease in the next quarter too? Revenue and margin? Again? That doesn't seem good.

Apple beats on revenue but sees profits fall for first time in a decade

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