Monday, July 21, 2008, 04:35 pm

Apple posts profit of $1.07B, ships nearly 2.5 million Macs

By AppleInsider Staff

Apple said Monday that third-quarter profits rose more than 30 percent to $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share, on sales of $7.46 billion for the three-month period ended June 28, 2008.

These results compare to revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 34.8 percent, down from 36.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 42 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple shipped 2,496,000 Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing 41 percent unit growth and 43 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 11,011,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 12 percent unit growth and seven percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 717,000 compared to 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter.

"We're proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we're busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months."

"We're extremely pleased with the growth of our business and the generation of almost $5.4 billion in cash in the first three quarters of fiscal 2008," added chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. "Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00."

Apple will conduct its Q3 2008 financial results conference call in about 30 minutes -- AppleInsider will provide full coverage.