Apple reported first-quarter earnings significantly higher than analysts had expected coming off a disappointing holiday season for most tech companies, but provided its usual conservative guidance.
For the three-month period ended December 27, Apple recorded US$10.2 billion in revenue, as compared with US$9.6 billion a year ago, and net income of US$1.6 billion, as compared with $1.58 billion a year ago. That translates into earnings per share of US$1.78, far more than the US$1.39 in earnings per share that analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected. Expected revenue was US$9.75 billion.
In a pattern familiar to Apple watchers, the company issued second-quarter guidance well below analyst expectations of US$8.2 billion in revenue and earnings per share of US$1.13. The company said it expects revenue between US$7.6 billion and US$8 billion, and earnings per share between 90 cents and US$1.
It didn't seem to matter as much as in past quarters, however, as Apple's stock surged 10 percent in after-hours trading. Perhaps investors were actually expecting worse guidance based on the health of the economy, or were simply cheered that Apple appeared to skate past any worries over poor retail sales this holiday season.
Apple sold 2.5 million Macs during the quarter, 22 million iPods, and 4.3 million iPhones. The Mac shipments were about in line with expectations, the iPod shipments were significantly higher, and iPhone shipments were slightly less than estimates that ran all over the map.
This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.com.
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