Apple announces record iPhone sales over holiday quarter

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc. unveiled a slew of new products from larger-screened iPhones to refreshed Macs -late last year to rev up growth. The move paid off last quarter with record sales and profit. Apple shares rose as much as 6.7 percent in extended trading Tuesday after the company reported that sales of iPhones during the quarter ended Dec. 27 rose 46 percent to 74.5 million units, topping analysts' average estimate of 64.9 million.

The sales helped push Apple's fiscal first-quarter profit to a record $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on sales of $74.6 billion. Analysts had predicted profit of $2.60 a share, and revenue of $67.5 billion.

Demand for Apple products soared "to an all-time high," Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in the statement.

The quarter that ends in December is typically the most lucrative period for the Cupertino, California-based company because of the holiday shopping season. This year, the scrutiny is even higher since the results provide the first official indicator of how the new products -- which debuted in September and October -- have performed.

Apple forecast the momentum would continue, with revenue projected to rise to $52 billion to $55 billion from $45.6 billion during the same period a year ago. Gross margins could widen to 38.5 percent to 39.5 percent compared with 39.3 percent a year earlier. Analysts had predicted revenue would rise in the current quarter to $53.7 billion, with margins at 38.6 percent.

"Ultimately it shows that the cycle is going to be more broad and deep than what investors had expected -- it will be more successful," Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said in advance of the earnings announcement. Apple shares earlier fell 3.5 percent to $109.13 at the close in New York. Investor enthusiasm for Apple's new products helped push shares to a new high last year, briefly boosting the company's market capitalization to more than $700 billion, a first for a U.S. company. For the just-ended fiscal first quarter, net income rose 38 percent from $13.072 billion a year earlier, while revenue increased 30 percent from $57.6 billion a year ago. The previous profit record of $13.078 billion was set in the fiscal first quarter of 2013.