Magic-maker and "serial earnings surpriser" Apple (AAPL) blew away everybody — even the most optimistic investors — with 35% beat of estimates this afternoon. The company reported EPS of $7.79 when the consensus estimate was for only $5.81.
To give you an idea of how big this beat was, the highest published estimate by any analyst was $6.58. Even the "whisper" numbers all day were only as high as $7.34 at the extreme upper end. And this after weeks of dozens of analysts raising their estimates for the quarter and the year.
See my story from earlier Tuesday, "Apple: Why You Still Buy the Dips in Earnings Machines" for a preview that explains the company’s high probability of continuing its surprising ways.
Apple revenues came in at $28.57 billion when the street was looking for something closer to $25 billion. This sales growth was driven by strong numbers for the iPhone which exceed 20 million units and the iPad which topped 9 million. Word is that they sold every iPad they could make.
The record quarterly revenue was matched by record quarterly net profit of $7.31 billion, versus year ago revenues of $15.70 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share. This represents a 122% jump in profits.
According to the company’s press release, gross margin was 41.7 percent compared to 39.1 percent in the year-ago quarter and international sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue. They sold 20.34 million iPhones, representing 142 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter and 9.25 million iPads was a 183 percent unit increase.
Apple also sold 3.95 million Macs, a 14 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter and even 7.54 million iPods, a 20 percent unit decline.
"We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall."
Apple now has $76 billion in cash and must be leaving analysts wondering what their next move is with that kind of war chest. The stock is trading over $400, a new all-time record, in after hours trade Tuesday. More details to follow soon…
Kevin Cook is a Senior Stock Strategist for Zacks.com
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