Apple's holiday season proved to be a disappointment even though the company sold a record number of iPhones and iPads during its latest quarter.
The fiscal first-quarter earnings released Monday topped analyst projections, but Apple sold fewer iPhones than Wall Street had been anticipating. Management also forecast revenue for the current quarter that fell below analysts' predictions.
Those letdowns caused Apple's stock to shed $41.62, or more than 7.5 per cent, to $508.88 in extended trading after the release of results.
The Cupertino, Calif., company sold 51 million iPhones during the three months ending Dec. 28. That marked a 7 per cent increase from the previous sales record of nearly 48 million iPhones set a year earlier.
Analysts, though, were expecting even bigger things and had predicted about 55 million iPhones in what is traditionally the company's best quarter. Apple's stock had been rising on the expectation that the company would clear the hurdle.
Apple sold 26 million iPads during the quarter, in line with analyst predictions. The iPad volume represented a 14 per cent increase from the same time in 2012.
Apple Inc. earned $13.07 billion, or $14.50 per share, in the quarter. That's roughly unchanged from $13.08 billion, or $13.81 per share, in the prior year. The per-share figure increased because Apple had fewer shares outstanding in the recent quarter.
Revenue rose 6 per cent to $57.6 billion.
The Canadian Press
