Apple profits up nearly 25% on sales of 26.9M iPhones, 14M iPads, and 4.9M Macs

Apple reported Thursday record fourth quarter profits that rose nearly 25% to $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, driven by sales of 26.9 million iPhones, 14 million iPads and nearly 5 million Macs.

The company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share, for the three-month period ending ended September 29, 2012. 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.

Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. It also sold 14.0 million iPads, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Mac sales continued to be robust at 4.9 million units, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, sales of iPods continued their inevitable decline to just 5.3 million units, a 19 percent unit drop from the year-ago quarter.

“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.”

Apple’s Board of Directors also declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share for the quarter. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012.

“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.”

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 25, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq412. AppleInsider will provide full coverage.