Apple Posts $14 Million Profit

Source: MacCentral.com

Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday reported a profit of $14 million, or $0.04 per share, for the company's fiscal second quarter ending March 29, 2003. Analysts polled by Thompson/First Call expected earnings of $0.01 to $0.04 per share, with the consensus forecast of $0.02 per share.

These results compare to a net profit of $40 million, or $.11 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter were $1.475 billion, down 1 percent from the year-ago quarter and gross margins were 28.3 percent, up from 27.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 47 percent of the quarter's revenues, according to Apple's statement.

"Our 'year of the notebook' is off to a great start, led by the incredible demand for our new aluminum 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4s," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "This quarter over 40 percent of the Macs we shipped were notebooks -- our highest percentage ever and well ahead of the industry average."

Apple said they have shipped 711,000 Macintosh units during the quarter.

Looking forward, Apple CFO Fred Anderson said revenues for the upcoming third quarter would be flat with the March quarter, but added the company expected a slight profit.

"We are very pleased to have achieved our revenue target for the second quarter while maintaining channel inventories under 4.5 weeks," said Anderson. "Continued strong asset management enabled us to increase cash to over $4.5 billion."

Apple stock closed today at $13.24, down $0.15 or 1.12 percent. In after hours trading Apple's stock is down to $13.21.