Apple sells 47.5M iPhones in record-breaking Q3, revenue jumps 33% to $49.6B

Apple continued its record breaking streak on Tuesday, posting its highest ever June quarter earnings with revenue of $49.6 billion, led by sales of 47.5 million iPhones and 4.7 million Macs.

Quarterly net profit was $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share, up from $7.4 billion in profit and $37.4 billion in revenue in the same quarter of 2014.

"We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch." - Apple CEO Tim Cook

iPhone sales were up 35 percent year over year in its fiscal 2015 third quarter. Revenue on the iPhone was up 59 percent, driven by higher margins on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Overall gross margin were 39.7 percent, compared to 39.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Though Apple set yet another quarterly record, easily outpacing the 35.2 million iPhones it shipped in the June 2014 quarter, iPhone units still fell short of lofty Wall Street expectations. Many analysts had predicted that iPhone sales would top 50 million for the three-month period.

Mac sales were also up 9 percent from the same period a year ago in the quarter. Apple also reported sales of 10.9 million iPads, an 18 percent year over year decline.

As expected, Apple's earnings announcement did not reveal sales of the new Apple Watch. The company simply referred to the product's launch as "successful."

"We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch," said Apple Chief Executive Tim Coo. "The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we're looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall."

Regionally, Apple saw more astonishing growth from China, where revenues were again up 112 percent. International sales accounted for 64 percent of revenue in the quarter.

"In the third quarter our year-over-year growth rate accelerated from the first half of fiscal 2015, with revenue up 33 percent and earnings per share up 45 percent," said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO. "We generated very strong operating cash flow of $15 billion, and we returned over $13 billion to shareholders through our capital return program."

Looking forward to Apple's fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, which runs through September, Apple has projected revenue between $49 billion and $51 billion, with gross margins between 38.5 percent and 39.5 percent. The company has also forecast operating expenses will be between $5.85 billion and $5.95 billion, with other income of $400 million, and a tax rate of 26.3 percent.

The Apple Board of Directors has also declared a cash dividend of $0.52 per share from its common stock. It will be payable on Aug. 13 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 10.