Apple has just revealed its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter 2018, completed on September 29 – therefore, the start of sales of the iPhones XS and XS Max has already started.
The company predicted revenues of US $ 60-62 billion, and closed the period just above that, with $ 62.9 billion – an increase of 20% over the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017. Net income was $ 14.1 billion (+ 32%) and diluted earnings per share, $ 2.91 (+ 41%). International sales comprised 61% of all quarterly billing.
Here are the numbers by segments:
- iPhone: 46.9 million units (0%), US $ 37.2 billion (+ 29%)
- iPad: 9.7 million units (-6%), US $ 4.1 billion (-15%)
- Mac: 5.3 million units (-2%), $ 7.4 billion (+ 3%)
- Services: $ 10 billion (+ 17%)
- Others: US $ 4.2 billion (+ 31%)
The highlight here is certainly the fact that the Services category has reached the historic mark of US $ 10 billion, still maintaining strong annual growth. iPhones were stagnant in number of units sold, but skyrocketed in revenue due to higher prices on the line.
Apple ended its fiscal year 2018 with revenue of $ 265.6 billion and net income of $ 59.5 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $ 11.91. It now has $ 365.7 billion in cash.
Here is the statement by the executive director (CEO) Tim Cook:
We are happy to announce another record-breaking quarter that closes a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year we dispatched our 2,000,000,000th iOS device, celebrated the App Store’s 10th anniversary and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history. Over the past 12 months, we have delivered great strides for our consumers through new versions of the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac, in addition to our four operating systems, and we have entered the holiday season with the product line and strongest service of all.
And that of the CFO Luca Maestri:
We concluded a record year with our best quarter in September in history, growing by double digits in each geographic segment. We recorded a record revenue in September for the iPhone and Wearables, and historical quarterly records for Services and Mac. We generated $ 19.5 billion in operating cash flow and returned more than $ 23 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases in the quarter September, bringing the total capital returned in fiscal 2018 to nearly $ 90 billion.
Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter 2019, Apple predicts revenue of $ 89-93 billion, gross margin between 38% and 38.5%, operating expenses between $ 8.7 and $ 8.8 billion, other revenues / (expenses) of $ 300 million and a tax rate of approximately 16.5%.
Apple’s board of directors declared a cash dividend of $ 0.73 per common share of the company, payable on November 15, 2018 to all shareholders registered at the end of business on November 12, 2018.
Soon, starting at 6 pm, Apple will hold an audio conference to talk about these numbers and answer questions from the press. Afterwards, we will do a complete coverage with the highlights of what to roll over here in MacMagazine.
Update Nov 01, 2018 at 17:51
Wall Street’s initial reaction, for a change, was not very positive. A $ AAPL, which closed the day up 1.54% (quoted at US $ 222.22 – which cute), is now plummeting about 4% in the NASDAQ post-close trading session.
Apparently, the drop has more to do with the forecast for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 than with the results of the last quarter. Even at $ 89-93 billion, Apple will break the historical record of $ 88.3 billion in the first fiscal quarter of 2018 – however, some analysts had expected something closer to $ 100 billion.
Update II Nov 01, 2018 at 18:59
The $ AAPL plummeted to almost 7%, spurred also by the fact that, at its financial conference, Apple announced that starting next quarter it will no longer report sales for iPhones, iPads and Macs.
