Apple’s fourth-quarter profit rises 62% on record sales

Apple has reported a 62.2 per cent annual jump in its fourth-quarter net profit on the back of record revenue but the company’s sales fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

The net profit of the technology company – which is based in Cupertino, California – during the period that ended on September 25 surged to about $20.6 billion.

This is about $1.2bn less than the financial quarter that ended on June 26.

Revenue rose by 29 per cent a year to $83.4bn during the quarter, missing analyst estimates of $84.8bn.

Last week, Apple unveiled its latest MacBook Pro laptops that are powered by the company’s in-house M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, as well as new AirPods as it looks to diversify its product range and attract more professional users.

The company also unveiled the iPhone 13 series, the Apple Watch 7 and new iPads last month.

“We are infusing our values into everything we make … moving closer to our 2030 goal of being carbon neutral up and down our supply chain and across the life cycle of our products and ever advancing our mission to build a more equitable future,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.

The company’s full financial year’s net profit increased 65 per cent to $94.7bn. Its 12-month sales stood at more than $365.8bn, up more than 33 per cent on a yearly basis.

Apple’s sales across all product categories reported double-digit growth.

The company’s iPhone sales account for about 47 per cent of its total revenue. Smartphone sales surged by about 47 per cent to $38.9bn in the quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier, missing analysts’ estimates of $41.5bn.

The company’s total revenue from services grew by about 25.6 per cent annually to $18.3bn while revenue from wearables, home and accessories products increased by about 11.5 per cent a year to more than $8.8bn.

Revenue from iPads and computers jumped more than 10 per cent to more than $17.4bn.

Apple’s sales in the Americas accounted for about 44.2 per cent of the company’s total revenue in the fourth-quarter. The company earned $36.8bn in the region.

It was followed by Europe and the Greater China market (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), which added $20.7bn and $14.5bn, respectively, to the company’s revenue.

Despite US-China trade issues, Apple managed to gain significant new ground in the Greater China market, which reported an annual increase of more than 83.2 per cent.

Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific market added $11.2bn to fourth-quarter sales, an annual rise of 22.1 per cent.

During the September quarter, Apple returned more than $24bn to its shareholders as the company looks to reach a neutral net-cash position over time.

The company’s results during the quarter “capped off a remarkable fiscal year of strong double-digit growth, during which we set new revenue records in all of our geographic segments and product categories in spite of continued uncertainty in the macro environment”, said chief financial officer Luca Maestri.

In the July-September period, Apple spent more than $5.7bn on research and development, about 7 per cent of its total revenue. It was up by about 16 per cent, compared with the same period in the previous year.

Apple did not issue official guidance about future revenue and profits. The company stopped offering guidance at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic due to uncertainty in business.

The company’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities stood at $62.6bn as of September 25.

Apple’s results ‘capped off a remarkable fiscal year of strong double-digit growth,’ its chief financial officer said