Apple Sweet $8.2Bn Profit But Analysts Irked

Apple had a sweet Q4, with profit soaring to $8.2bn.

However, despite the mammoth result investors still were not happy as it missed expectations of $8.75bn earnings.

Shares slipped over 1.5% to $607.98 after the earnings announcement, yesterday.

Still, Apple’s net profit marks over a $1.5bn jump from the same time last year of $6.6bn.

Apple’s 2012 fiscal fourth quarter to September 29, saw revenue also soar to $36 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share.

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This compares to revenue of $28.3bn or $7.05 per diluted share, Q4 2011.

Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones, a whopping 58 % unit growth y-o-y, and launched the iPhone 5 in September selling 5 million on first weekend alone.

“Demand continues to outsrip supply” Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, assured investors at its earnings call.

Possible lower earnings next quarter was also hinted at in earnings guidance of $11.75 a share on $52 bn revenue in the crucial December quarter.

iPad and iPhone sales may also be hit by component supply issues, which has already affected supply of the iPhone 5.

Apple boss Tim Cook admitted the Company is in a “significant state of backlog right now,” forcing investors to question when demand and supply will be reconciled. Cook also confirmed shortages of the new model iMac would be a definite this quarter.

Apple launched a slew of products this quarter including the iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPods and iMac, pushing manufacturing to full capacity

However, Cook added “we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”

14 million iPads were sold during the quarter, up 26%, although analysts had forecast tablet sales to hit 17m, partly blamed on expectations of the iPad mini.

However, iPods didn’t fare nearly as well, despite several new product launches, with sales dropping almost 20%, to 5.3 million.

International sales accounted for a massive 60% of Cupertino’s revenue, who recently opened its biggest store in China, its most important market outside the US.

The Company sold 4.9 m Macs during the quarter, up just 1%.

“We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Cook.

Apple has generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012, Oppenheimer,  also revealed.

Apple’s Board declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock, which is payable on November 15.

Gross margin also dipped slightly to 40 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter.