Apple reports $13.1B in Q1 2014 profit on record sales of 51M iPhones, 26M iPads

Both the iPhone and iPad sales figures for the December quarter were new records for Apple, besting sales of 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Apple fell nearly 6 percent after the results were first revealed Monday afternoon. Market expectations called for Apple to post $58 billion in revenues on sales of around 56.5 million iPhones and 24.5 million iPads.

Mac sales in the quarter were at 4.8 million, up from 4.1 million a year ago and better than investor projections of 4.6 million. However, Wall Street watchers place more emphasis on the company's iPhone and iPad lineups, which represent the lion's share of Apple's profits.

Apple posted its best quarter ever, but still came in slightly below Wall Street expectations, causing shares to dip in after-hours trading on Monday."We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services," said Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. "We love having the most satisfied, loyal and engaged customers, and are continuing to invest heavily in our future to make their experiences with our products and services even better."

Apple earned $14.50 per diluted share in the just-concluded quarter, up from $13.81 a year ago. Gross margins dipped year over year, from 38.6 percent in the year-ago period, to 37.9 percent this fiscal year.

Looking forward to its fiscal 2014 second quarter, Apple has guided revenue between $42 billion and $44 billion with gross margin between 37 percent and 38 percent. The company projects operating expenses between $4.3 billion and $4.4 billion, with other income of around $200 million.

"We generated $22.7 billion in cash flow from operations and returned an additional $7.7 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the December quarter, bringing cumulative payments under our capital return program to over $43 billion," Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said.