Apple Reports Record Second Quarter Results, But iPad Sales Sag Worsens

In its financial results for its fiscal 2015 second quarter ended March 28, 2015, Apple posted quarterly revenue of $58 billion and quarterly net profit of $13.6 billion, or $2.33 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $45.6 billion and net profit of $10.2 billion, or $1.66 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.8 percent compared to 39.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 69 percent of the quarters revenue.

The growth was fueled by record second quarter sales of iPhone and Mac and all-time record performance of the App Store.

However, iPad sales were down again, ar 12.6 million unoits sold in the quarter, down from 16.4 million in the year-ago fiscal 2 2014 quarter, and now represent just nine percent of Apple’s revenue stream — falling behind the Macintosh at 10 percent of revenues.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than weve experienced in previous cycles, and were off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch.”

“The tremendous customer demand for our products and services in the March quarter drove revenue growth of 27 percent and EPS growth of 40 percent,” comments Luca Maestri, Apples CFO. “Cash flow from operations was also outstanding at $19.1 billion.”

Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2015 third quarter:
– revenue between $46 billion and $48 billion
– gross margin between 38.5 percent and 39.5 percent
– operating expenses between $5.65 billion and $5.75 billion
– other income/(expense) of $350 million
– tax rate of 26.3 percent

Apple will provide live streaming of its April 27 Q2 2015 financial results conference call for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.