Apple eviscerates Q3 earnings estimates, revenue up 78% year-over-year

Apple’s been getting a little bit of bad press lately, but it clearly isn’t hurting their bottom line. In a press release today, the Cupertino company announced earnings for Q3 2010 ending on June 26th… and they’re impressive. The company posted revenue of $15.7 billion for the quarter with earnings per diluted share coming in at a blistering $3.51; up from $2.01/share in Q3 of last year. The company’s gross margin was 39.1% (compared to 40.9% from a year ago), and international sales accounted for 52% of the company’s quarterly revenue. Apple sold 3.47 million Mac computers (a 33% increase from Q3 of last year), 8.4 million iPhones (up 61% YoY), 9.41 million iPods (an 8% decline YoY), and 3.27 million iPads. Apple’s CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, said: “We’re really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the quarter. Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue of about $18 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $3.44.” Glorify or vilify them, they are printing money in Cupertino these days. We’ve got the full release for you after the break.

Apple Reports Third Quarter Results

All-Time Record Revenue
Earnings Increase 78 Percent

CUPERTINO, California—July 20, 2010—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 third quarter ended June 26, 2010. The Company posted record revenue of $15.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $9.73 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.83 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.1 percent compared to 40.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 52 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, representing a new quarterly record and a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.41 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company began selling iPads during the quarter, with total sales of 3.27 million.

“It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

“We’re really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue of about $18 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $3.44”

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q3 2010 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on July 20, 2010 at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq310/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

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