Apple increased its profits on improved iPhone sales in its recently-ended third quarter, but the company’s reported revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Releasing its latest quarterly results on Tuesday, Apple (AAPL) reported a 12.2% year-over-year increase in profits to $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per share. Analysts had predicted $1.23 per share, according to information compiled by Bloomberg. Apple’s earnings per share (EPS) grew by 19.6% over last year’s numbers when the company’s June 7-to-1 share split is taken into account.
Apple’s third-quarter revenue grew 6% to $37.4 billion, falling just short of Wall Street’s prediction of $38 billion. Apple had expected revenues to land between $36 billion and $38 billion for the third quarter after sales hit $35.3 billion during the same period last year. Compared with this year’s second quarter, Apple’s revenue was down nearly 18%.
In announcing the results, CEO Tim Cook attributed areas of growth to strong product sales. “Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters,” Cook said in a statement.
The company sold 35.2 million iPhones last quarter, 12.6% more than the same quarter in 2013, while the number of iPads sold declined 9% to 13.2 million. Meanwhile, sales totals for both products were down 19% each compared with the previous quarter.
Apple’s product sales often drop off to some degree during the summer as customers wait for new products to be announced in the fall. The announcement of Apple’s next smartphone, the iPhone 6, has been eagerly awaited as rumors have swirled over everything from the kind of glass that could be used on the phone to whether or not the company will release multiple larger-sized versions of the phone.
Apple sold 4.4 million Macs last quarter, good for an 18% increase over last year and up 7% over the previous quarter.
The company also announced a cash dividend of 47 cents that will go to shareholders on August 14.
For the fourth quarter, Apple expects revenue between $37 billion and $40 billion. The company’s stock closed Tuesday up 0.8%, but dropped slightly in after-hours trading.
