Apple beats Street with another record-breaking quarter

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2018.
The company posted quarterly revenue of $62.9 billion, an increase of 20% from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.91, up 41%. International sales accounted for 61% of the quarter’s revenue.
Services revenue reached an all-time high of $10 billion. Excluding a one-time favorable adjustment of $640 million recognized in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, Services revenue grew from $7.9 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 to $10 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 27 percent.
Data Summary:
• iPhone: 46.889 million units, $37.185 billion revenue (0% units, +29% revenue YOY)
• Mac: 5.299 million units, $7.411 billion revenue (-2% units, +3% revenue YOY)
• iPad: 9.699 million units, $4.089 billion revenue (-6% units, -15% revenue YOY)
• Services: $9.981 billion revenue (+17% YOY)
• Other Products: $4.234 billion revenue (+31% YOY)
Services includes revenue from Digital Content and Services, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services. Services net sales in the third quarter of 2018 included a favorable one-time item of $236 million in connection with the final resolution of various lawsuits. Services net sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 included a favorable one-time adjustment of $640 million due to a change in estimate based on the availability of additional supporting information. Other Products includes sales of AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, HomePod, iPod touch and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories.
Apple’s iPhone average selling price (ASP) for the quarter was $793.
Here’s what Wall Street expected:
• Earnings: $2.78 per share, (Refinitiv consensus estimates)
• Revenue: $61.57 billion, (Refinitiv consensus estimates)
• iPhone sales: 47.5 million, (FactSet and StreetAccount estimates)
• iPhone average selling price (ASP): $750.78, (FactSet and StreetAccount estimates)
“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “Over the past two months, we’ve delivered huge advancements for our customers through new versions of iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac as well as our four operating systems, and we enter the holiday season with our strongest lineup of products and services ever.”
“We concluded a record year with our best September quarter ever, growing double digits in every geographic segment. We set September quarter revenue records for iPhone and Wearables and all-time quarterly records for Services and Mac,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated $19.5 billion in operating cash flow and returned over $23 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases in the September quarter, bringing total capital returned in fiscal 2018 to almost $90 billion.”
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2019 first quarter:
• revenue between $89 billion and $93 billion
• gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5 percent
• operating expenses between $8.7 billion and $8.8 billion
• other income/(expense) of $300 million
• tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent before discrete items
Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.73 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2018 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2018.
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2018 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on November 1, 2018 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/.
MacDailyNews Take: Booyah!
Why the stock dropped in after-hours trading: iPhone unit shares and revenue guidance only slightly above Q118’s all-time $88.3 billion record.
“Shares of Apple fell 4 percent immediately following the release, as the company missed shipment estimates on iPhones and offered light guidance.” – Sara Salinas, CNBC
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MacDailyNews presents live notes from Apple’s Q418 conference call – November 1, 2018