Apple boasts of record earnings in fourth quarter report

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Apple's good run continues

Apple has divulged its fourth quarter 2014 financials, revealing what the iPhone maker calls "record September quarter revenue and earnings."

The company posted total revenue of $42.1 billion (about £26b, AU$47.9b) for the quarter that ended September 27. Quarterly net profit reached $8.5 billion (about £5.26b, AU$9.7b).

Compare that to revenue and net profit of $37.5 billion (about £23.2b, AU$42.6b) and $7.5 billion (about £4.6b, AU$8.5b) respectively during the same period last year, and it's easy to see why Apple is pleased with itself.

Gross margin rose from 37% to 38% compared with last year as well.

Higher and higher

Apple attributed 60% of all its revenue in Q4 2014 to international sales.

The company's announcement cites CEO Tim Cook reiterating that the September release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus was Apple's biggest iPhone launch ever.

Apple also attributed its success in this quarter to strong Mac and App Store sales.

Apple Chief Financial Operator Luca Maestri reported 20% EPS growth and $13.3 billion (about £8.22b, AU$15.1b) in cash flow from operations, another record for the company. Apple spent $20 billion (about £12.4b, AU$22.8b) in the quarter, with cumulative returns of $94 billion (about £58.2b, AU$106.9b).

For Q1 of fiscal 2015 Apple predicts revenue between $63.5 billion (about £39.3b, AU$72.3b) and $66.5 billion (about £41.1b, AU$75.7b), gross margin between 37.5% and 38.5%, operating expenses between $5.4 billion (about £3.3b, AU$6.1b) and $5.5 billion (about £3.4b, AU$6.3b), other expense of $325 million (about £200m, AU$370m), and a tax rate of 26.5%.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.