One of many EDIG might be tapping....

(10/21/2008 5:23 PM EDT)

SAN FRANCISO—Apple Inc. Tuesday (Oct. 21) posted a net profit of $1.14 billion on revenue of $7.9 billion for the three months ended Sept. 27 in what CEO Steve Jobs called one of the best quarters in company history.

In a statement issued by Apple, Jobs singled out the performance of the iPhone—which he said outsold Research in Motion Ltd.'s Blackberry—and sounded a cautiously optimistic tone for the immediate future.

Steve Jobs Apple CEO

"We don't yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple," Jobs said. "But we're armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt."

Jobs said later that Apple was the world's third-ranked mobile phone supplier by revenue during the quarter. With nearly 6.9 million iPhones sold during the quarter, Apple said it has already sold more than 10 million in calendar 2008.

Citing economic uncertainty, Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) provided a wider-than-usual range of guidance for the current quarter, calling for revenue of $9 billion to $10 billion and earnings per share between $1.06 and $1.35. Analysts had been expecting on average $10.5 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.62 for the current period.

"Looking ahead, visibility is low and forecasting is challenging, and as a result we are going to be prudent in predicting the December quarter," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer.

Apple's net income for the fiscal fourth quarter, ended Sept. 27, was up 26 percent from $904 million in the same period of 2007. Revenue of $7.9 billion was up 27 percent from $6.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. Net income for the quarter equated to $1.26 per share, Apple said.

Apple's fiscal fourth quarter results were better than the previous quarter, ended June 28, when the company posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share.

Consensus analyst expectations had called for Apple to post fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $8 billion and earnings-per-share of $1.11.

Apple also provided non-GAAP numbers for the quarter that Jobs called "stunning." The company said it had a non-GAAP net income for the period of $2.4 billion on revenue of $11.7 billion.

Gross margin was 34.7 percent, up from 33.6 percent in the year-ago quarter, Apple said. International sales accounted for 41 percent of the quarter's revenue, according to the company.

For the fiscal year, Apple reported revenue of $32.5 billion, up from $24 billion in the previous fiscal year. The company reported a net income for the fiscal year of $4.8 billion, up from $3.5 billion in the prior fiscal year.

Page 2: More than 10 million iPhones sold
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