Apple destroys earnings estimates: Revenue of $74.6 billion on the back of 74.5 million in iPhone sales
Apple a short while ago posted its earnings results from its 2014 holiday quarter, and per expectations, the company handily destroyed analyst estimates across the board, delivering a quarterly profit of $18.0 billion and revenue of $74.6 billion On Wall St., analysts were anticipating revenue to come in at $66.5 billion on the high end.
Per usual, the bulk of Apple's revenue came from incredibly strong iPhone sales, boosted by immense demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. During the last three months of 2014, Apple sold an incredible 74.5 million iPhones, an incredible 46% increase from the same quarter a year-ago when the company sold 51 million iPhones.
Apple's other big revenue generating products - the iPad and the Mac - also did respectable numbers. For the quarter gone by, Apple sold 21.4 million iPads and 5.5 million Macs.
Apple's press release reads in part:
"We'd like to thank our customers for an incredible quarter, which saw demand for Apple products soar to an all-time high," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Our revenue grew 30 percent over last year to $74.6 billion, and the execution by our teams to achieve these results was simply phenomenal."
Earnings per share checked in at an impressive $3.06, a marked increase from $2.07 in the same quarter a year-ago. Apple's earnings, in addition to being boosted by outstanding Mac and iPhone sales, were also buoyed by Apple's ongoing stock buyback program.
