Apple (AAPL): The iPhone Saves The Day

Apple (AAPL) posted financial results for its fiscal 2009 second quarter ended March 28, 2009. Revenue was $8.16 billion and  net quarterly profit was $1.21 billion, or $1.33 per share. These results compare to revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.4 %, up from 32.9% in the same period last year.

Revenue was expected to come in around $8 billion, according to analyst forecasts. Wall Street predicted that Apple will earn $1.09 per share for the period, down from $1.16 per share for the same quarter last year according to consensus forecasts from FactSet Research.

Apple did well by product line.
The PC and consumer electronics company sold 2.22 million Macs during the quarter, representing a 3% unit decline from the  quarter last year. Apple sold 11.01 million iPods during the quarter, representing 3% unit growth over the year-ago period. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 3.79 million representing 123% unit growth over the year-ago quarter. That number should astonish a number of analysts

Wall St.’s expectations for sales by product line were Mac unit sales of 2.2 million, according to a consensus of analysts estimates compiled by MarketWatch. IPod sales were expected to total about 9.8 million units.  The iPhone was expected to sell about 3.1 million units.

Apple’s forecasts for the next quarter were below Wall St. guesses which may push shares down. The company projects net EPS of $.95 to $1, below the $1.12 consensus, and revenue of $7.7 billion to $7.96 billion, also below the consensus $8.28 billion.

If iPhone sales were not above forecasts, Apple may have missed its numbers. But, the product has extraordinary legs.

Douglas A. McIntyre