Apple has released their earnings for financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2012. The Cupertino company posted revenue of $36.0 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion for the quarter, or $8.67 per diluted share. This is an increase compare to the year-ago quarter whereby the revenue was $28.3 billion and net profit – $6.6 billion. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. According Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO: [quote] We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012. Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.[/quote] During the conference call Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO had a few things to say about the competition. “I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, Tim said at on the conference call, “but I don’t think it would do all of those things very well.” Here is TheVerge take on the earning results: [quote] Apple’s just released its Q4 2012 earnings report, posting an $8.2b profit on $36 billion in revenue, breaking its record Q4 2011 of $6.62b profit on $28.27b in revenue. The gains were almost entirely driven by a 58 percent increase in iPhone sales with 26.9m units sold, up from 17m last year, and a 26 percent increase in iPad sales with 14m sold, up from 11m last year. Of particular note, the iPhone 5 isn’t a huge part of these numbers — it was only on sale for nine days in Q4.[/quote] The take away from the earning’s press release was Amazon less than subtle dig at Apple’s iPad mini: [quote]
- Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” has:
- 193% more pixels (2,304,000 pixels vs. 786,432 pixels)
- 56% more pixels-per-inch (254 vs. 163)
- Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
- Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
- Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
- Costs $30 less
- Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 7” has:
- 30% more pixels (1,024,000 vs. 786,432 pixels)
- 33% more pixels per inch (216 vs. 163)
- Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
- Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
- Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
- Costs $130 less
[/quote] [box]
Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results
26.9 Million iPhones Sold; Record Fourth Quarter Revenue and Profit
Board Declares Quarterly Dividend of $2.65 per Common Share CUPERTINO, California—October 25, 2012—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The Company sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012. “We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.” “We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.” [/box] Joining Apple on releasing their earning results on October 25 was Amazon. Here is TheVerge take on Amazon: [quote] Amazon has just announced its earnings for the third quarter of 2012, beating the admittedly low expectations it set last quarter. The company reported net sales that were 27 percent higher than the same time in 2011, coming in at $13.81 billion — which is also about a billion dollars higher than last quarter’s sales. Overall, though, it reported an operating loss of $28 million. That’s not great news for the company, especially compared to the $79 million operating income it made in the third quarter of 2011, but back in July, Amazon said it expected anywhere from a $50 million to $350 million loss. Net loss was also high: $274 million, compared to net income of $63 million at the same time last year.[/quote] [box]
Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Sales up 27% to $13.81 Billion
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 25, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2012. Operating cash flow increased 8% to $3.37 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.11 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2011. Free cash flow decreased 31% to $1.06 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.53 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2011. Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 469 million on September 30, 2012, consistent with 469 million one year ago. Net sales increased 27% to $13.81 billion in the third quarter, compared with $10.88 billion in third quarter 2011. Excluding the $348 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 30% compared with third quarter 2011. Operating loss was $28 million in the third quarter, compared with operating income of $79 million in third quarter 2011. The unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating loss was $3 million. Net loss was $274 million in the third quarter, or $0.60 per diluted share, compared with net income of $63 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in third quarter 2011. The third quarter 2012 includes a loss of $169 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, related to our equity-method share of the losses reported by LivingSocial, primarily attributable to its impairment charge of certain assets, including goodwill. “Our approach is to work hard to charge less. Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “And our approach is working – the $199 Kindle Fire HD is the #1 bestselling product across Amazon worldwide. Incredibly, this is true even as measured by unit sales. The next two bestselling products worldwide are our Kindle Paperwhite and our $69 Kindle. We’re selling more of each of these devices than the #4 bestselling product, book three of the Fifty Shades of Grey series. And we haven’t even started shipping our best tablet – the $299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9” ships November 20.” Highlights
- Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” has:
- 193% more pixels (2,304,000 pixels vs. 786,432 pixels)
- 56% more pixels-per-inch (254 vs. 163)
- Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
- Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
- Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
- Costs $30 less
- Compared to the iPad mini, Kindle Fire HD 7” has:
- 30% more pixels (1,024,000 vs. 786,432 pixels)
- 33% more pixels per inch (216 vs. 163)
- Watch HD movies and TV – cannot on iPad mini (iPad mini is an SD device)
- Better audio with dual stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus
- Wi-Fi with dual band, dual antennas + MIMO
- Costs $130 less
- Amazon.com introduced the fifth generation Kindle e-readers: Kindle Paperwhite is the most advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, up to 8 weeks of battery life, and a thin and light design for just $119; Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G — never pay for or hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot with the all-new top-of-the-line Kindle e-reader with free 3G wireless for just $179; and the new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now with new, improved fonts, faster page turns for just $69.
- Amazon.co.jp launched the Japanese Kindle Store, offering customers a vast selection of over 50,000 Japanese-language Kindle books. In total, the store offers over one million titles, including the largest selection of bestsellers in English and other languages.
- Amazon.com announced a new licensing agreement with EPIX for movies including The Avengers, Iron Man 2, The Hunger Games, Super 8, Thor, and more, expanding its catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video to more than 30,000 movies and TV episodes.
- Amazon announced significant updates to Cloud Player, including scan and match technology which provides customers a fast and easy way to get all of their music from their computers to the cloud. Cloud Player customers can then enjoy their music on their favorite devices, including Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android devices, Sonos home entertainment systems, and any web browser. Amazon also expanded Cloud Player to the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
- Amazon announced it is hiring for more than 50,000 seasonal positions at its fulfillment centers across the U.S. this holiday season. Amazon employs more than 20,000 people across its 40 U.S. fulfillment centers and pays its full-time, permanent employees 30 percent more than what traditional retail store employees earn.
- Amazon has announced 19 new fulfillment centers worldwide to be opened in time to support this year’s holiday demand.
- North America segment sales, representing amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through North America-focused websites, and including amounts earned from Amazon Web Services (AWS), were $7.88 billion, up 33% from third quarter 2011.
- International segment sales, representing amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through internationally-focused websites, were $5.92 billion, up 20% from third quarter 2011. Excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 27%.
- Worldwide Media sales grew 11% to $4.60 billion. Excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 14%.
- Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 36% to $8.56 billion. Excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 39%.
- The NASDAQ OMX Group announced the launch of FinQloud, a cloud computing offering powered by AWS and exclusively designed for the financial services industry. FinQloud provides efficient management and storage of financial data to help market participants streamline operations and meet regulatory compliance requirements without making costly capital expenditures for their underlying infrastructure.
- AWS announced that more than 300 government agencies and 1,500 education institutions are leveraging AWS for a wide range of uses including big data analytics, high performance computing, web and collaboration applications, archiving and storage, and disaster relief. AWS also announced new services and features available in the AWS GovCloud (U.S.) Region, including the addition of high performance computing capabilities.
- AWS announced Amazon Glacier, a secure, reliable and extremely low cost storage service designed for data archiving and backup. Amazon Glacier is designed for data that is infrequently accessed, yet still important to retain for future reference, and for which retrieval times of several hours are suitable.
