Apple Inc’s fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 36 percent on blistering sales of Macintosh computers — and beat Wall Street estimates — but its stock dipped on a lower-than-expected profit forecast.
The Mac and iPod maker is believed to be especially vulnerable to slowing consumer spending in the US because of its stronger presence here than overseas and because many of its products carry a premium price tag.
Those fears have contributed to a 20 percent decline in Apple’s stock price since the start of the year.
PHOTO: AP
But the company has traditionally issued conservative financial forecasts, and sales in the US were particularly strong in the latest quarter, rising 40 percent over last year.
So many investors were left scratching their heads about how to interpret Apple’s guidance.
Apple shares fell US$1.18, or less than 1 percent, to US$161.71 in after-hours trading, climbing back from a dip of nearly 5 percent right after the close of trading and the release of the earnings report. The shares had closed up US$2.69, or 1.7 percent, at US$162.89, during the regular session.
“The stock was all over the place, but I thought it was a great quarter,” said Jane Snorek, senior analyst of technology stocks at First American Funds.
“The most important part is that the Apple consumer seems to be immune to economic weakness,” she said.
“This is a very US-centric story. The guidance could have been horrendous. They could have said they were seeing pricing pressure, or the stores weren’t doing well. But I see it as, I’m perfectly safe buying the stock now,” she said.
The Cupertino, California-based company earned US$1.05 billion), or US$1.16 per share, in its second quarter, which ended on March 29. That’s US$0.09 per share better than what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting on average.
During the same period last year, Apple earned US$770 million, or US$0.87 per share.
Revenue jumped 43 percent in the period to US$7.51 billion — also beating Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts were predicting Apple would rake in US$6.96 billion.
Apple said this year brought the strongest sales and earnings performance during the March quarter in Apple’s history.
Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, would not specifically address in an interview how Apple might be affected by slowing domestic consumer spending, but he noted that Apple’s sales growth overall is expected to continue accelerating, a sign the company is faring well despite the economic downturn.
The company forecast profits for the fiscal third quarter of US$1 per share, short of the US$1.10 per share in the average analyst estimate and at the low end of what all analysts polled were expecting.
The company expects sales of about US$7.2 billion, slightly above the US$7.16 billion Wall Street was expecting.
Apple sold 2.29 million Macintosh computers during the second quarter, a 51 percent jump over a year ago.
The company sold 10.6 million iPods during the quarter, 1 percent higher than last year, and 1.7 million iPhones.
Apple executives reiterated the company’s goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.
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