Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.When Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said “We are thrilled with our outstanding results” it really wasn’t an overstatement.
Q1 (to 31st Dec 11) revenues were up 73% at $46.3b (easily beating estimates of c$38b), profits more than doubled to $13.1b and margins went up from 38.5% to 44.7%. iPhone unit sales were up 128% at 37m, iPads up 111% at 15.4m and even Mac sales were up 26% 5.2m. OK, iPod sales declined 21% - but you have to wonder that there were still 15.4m people who bought one in the quarter at all – given that iPhones and iPads have the same music feature.
Just to put this into context, Apple now has quarterly revenues that exceed HP. Indeed heading for a record for any US company. And quarterly profits that exceed Google's quarterly revenues. And these results are for the same quarter when Microsoft, HTC, RIM, Intel and others produced pretty lack-lustre results and even Google ‘disappointed the market’. Indeed, current research shows Android’s market share declining as Apple sweeps always all in its path.
On top of that Apple now has $96b in cash. Perhaps they should buy Greece. Ireland, Portugal, Italy...
Of course, this is the first full quarter without Steve Jobs. Many will say that everything Apple currently sells was produced under his stewardship. But having read the biography, I’m now convinced that actually Apple has a great team that is more than capable of continuing this trend. It was not all down to Jobs. As many readers will know (as I have reminded them of it so many times) I have given Apple my ‘this is the company to back’ award every year since 2002. Their shares were $10 then and they are at an all time high of $430 now. Of course, historic performance is no guide to the future, but if I was on that stage again with Richard Kramer from Arete as I was in 2002, I’d give the exact same answer to the question ‘which company would you back for the next year?” as I did then.
Apple stock was up 12% at $468 in after hours trading.