|
 Shares of the world's most profitable company initially rose 3
percent in extended trade after Apple beat Wall Street's sales and
profit forecasts, but the gains largely evaporated later.
In the world's most important market for smartphones, Apple's sales
in Greater China in its fourth fiscal quarter nearly doubled from a
year ago to $12.52 billion, accounting for nearly a quarter of its
total revenue.
"We continue to have wonderful success there," Apple's chief
financial officer, Luca Maestri, told Reuters, adding that Apple now
has 25 stores in China and is opening a new one roughly every month.
But China sales dipped from the fiscal third quarter, when Apple
notched $13.2 billion in revenue there. The sequential decline is
important as many analysts believe China is poised to replace the
United States as Apple's biggest market.
Analyst Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies said as the Chinese
market matures, it is beginning to show spikes around the holidays
and slumps before the release of a new phone, as in the U.S. market.
"The seasonality in China is really a new wrinkle," he said.
Apple, the world's largest company by market value, said it sold
about 48.05 million iPhones worldwide in its fiscal fourth quarter
ended Sept. 26, slightly below analysts' average forecast of 48.72
million, according to a poll by Fortune magazine.
For the current quarter, which will include a full three months of
sales of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models, Apple forecast
revenue between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. The company's
generally conservative forecast was in line with Wall Street's
average estimate of $77.17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
"The street was fearing soft guidance and instead got a good
December outlook," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital
Markets.
Morningstar analyst Brian Colello said the forecast was slightly
below expectations but investors were pricing in a worse outcome,
which was why the stock initially rose after hours.
Boosted by a new pink or 'rose gold' color option, Apple posted
record sales of its latest iPhones in the first weekend that they
hit stores in late September. The fiscal fourth quarter included
only two days of sales of the new iPhones.
[to top of second column] |
The release of the iPhone 6 set off a sales frenzy last year,
propelling Apple to the most profitable quarter ever for a U.S.
company.
Analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research said Apple's guidance for
the current quarter suggested the company can top its success last
year. "It suggests that they are definitely up to the task," she
said.
But some analysts expressed concerns.
"I would say I am a little skeptical or wary about how much more
market share they can gain in (emerging) markets," said Tuong
Nguyen, a principal analyst at Gartner, citing concerns about
whether consumers in those markets can buy costly phones.
Apple's net income rose to $11.12 billion, or $1.96 per share, in
the fourth quarter, up from $8.47 billion, or $1.42 per share, a
year earlier.
Net sales rose about 22 percent to $51.50 billion.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.88 per share and
revenue of $51.11 billion.
Apple's shares, which fell steeply in mid-August as concerns about
the company's business in China hit fever pitch, were trading at
$114.80 after the bell, after closing at $114.55 in regular Nasdaq
trade.
(Reporting by Julia Love in San Francisco and Devika Krishna Kumar
in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey, Bill Rigby and Leslie Adler)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
