Apple Reports Profit of $3.25 Billion in Q3 2010 on Record $15.7 Billion Revenue

[giosaccone]

Very very good job, dear Steve!

 

[dogie678]

Well, never say never. With a higher growth rate on revenues, it can match and exceed MSFT earnings. Give them another 2 to 6 quarters.

it's getting close. see chart.

Apple closes in on Microsoft in revenue race

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/07/19/apple-closes-in-on-microsoft-in-revenue-race/

The earnings beat won't come easy for Apple. Due to Microsoft's extraordinarily high operating margin, the only way Apple will beat Microsoft in earnings is by simply outpacing it in sales. Since Microsoft pushes more of its revenue to the bottom line, Apple will have to significantly outpace Microsoft in revenue to win on the net income front. The chart below compares Apple and Microsoft's net income for the last several fiscal years.

 

[Master Chief]

...

I really don't understand why these people complain about Apple. If anything, they should be asking the current CEOs of every other Fortune 500 company, "why don't you guys perform like Apple?" And then follow up with, "and why are you getting paid so much? Steve Jobs makes one dollar a year."...

Rewind and listen; Wait for the $195 million stock payout to be mentioned. Who do you think are getting all of this?

 

[macquariumguy]

it's getting close. see chart.

I would love to see that chart from 1980 to present.

 

[gtsipad]

Sigh... wish I invested in the company 10 years ago...

wish i invested in the company 18 months ago when stock was hovering in the 80s...

 

[alent1234]

Well, never say never. With a higher growth rate on revenues, it can match and exceed MSFT earnings. Give them another 2 to 6 quarters.

apple changed their revenue model last year and recognize iphone revenues all at once. which is one reason for the huge jump in revenues. MS is still recognizing revenue over a few years on it's rent a software contracts. and since you can play with revenue and earnings numbers, looking at operating cash flow Microsoft still leads Apple

 

[stagi]

Awesome numbers, and AAPL is set for about a nice 4% gain this morning

 

[Master Chief]

I would love to see that chart from 1980 to present.

Why don't you open this link in Numbers and make a chart yourself

p.s. It starts at 1984 but still, that'll give you a clue as to what you (might) have missed.

 

[liavman]

apple changed their revenue model last year and recognize iphone revenues all at once. which is one reason for the huge jump in revenues. MS is still recognizing revenue over a few years on it's rent a software contracts. and since you can play with revenue and earnings numbers, looking at operating cash flow Microsoft still leads Apple

yeah, agreed...Give Apple a few more quarters to catch up on operating cash flow.

But the first big milestone is catching up on revenues which is mostly a meaningless comparison but the media will report big on that. The second milestone which is meaningful is when the recognized net profits are equal. The media will give it some attention and is indeed a significant event in the history of Apple vs Microsoft. The third milestone, operating cash flow equality, though it is of some interest to us who are geeky about that, will not be of much interest to the media and would not get much attention.

 

[alent1234]

one warning sign i saw from the numbers is that Apple's gross margin fell. Wall Street usually doesn't like that

 

[lkrupp]

apple changed their revenue model last year and recognize iphone revenues all at once. which is one reason for the huge jump in revenues. MS is still recognizing revenue over a few years on it's rent a software contracts. and since you can play with revenue and earnings numbers, looking at operating cash flow Microsoft still leads Apple

The fact that people like you have to spin the numbers to keep Microsoft ahead is enough for me. You would never have felt the need to do so even a few years ago. First it was market capitalization, now revenues. It's a sight to behold isn't it. I think I'll get out my copy of "Pirates of Silicon Valley" and watch it again just for old times sake.

 

[jwong77]

I love owning Apple Stock!!!

 

[chukronos]

Originally Posted by NetScheduler
And you're basing your opinion on what exactly???

Maybe the huge "antennagate" scandal which some think is the end of Apple an the biggest issue in the world right now. "Android FTW" in reality it is a blip and means nothing outside of the blog world where it has been overhyped.

Apple will meet or exceed their 4th qtr forecast, mark my words!

He may have said it due to fact that they are having a hard time keeping up with demand. They had a few months to prepare for the iPhone 4 and sold out of supply in a remarkable 3 weeks. Aanalysts now predict 12 million iPads to be sold this year, up 4 million than previously thought. The question will be, can Apple produce quickly enough, not if people will buy the products.

 

[gnasher729]

one warning sign i saw from the numbers is that Apple's gross margin fell. Wall Street usually doesn't like that

Very aggressively priced iPads (remember they were supposed to start at $1000 so everyone thought they could undercut Apple by $200?) And the best screen on any mobile phone doesn't come for free either. That's why Apple has a Q&A after their earning announcements, so they can clarify these things.

And I remember when Apple paid back its last debt a few years ago, people said "it is a bad sign if a company has no debt". The scientific term for this is "scraping the barrel".

 

[macintoshtoffy]

As a free-market conservative American I love it when companies rake in mega-profits like Apple. I believe companies, and people, are allowed to make however much they want. I reject salary caps, profit caps, and higher taxes for successful Americans.

I often wonder how many Apple fanboys have blasted oil companies, insurance companies, medical companies, etc for making outrageous profits. To put things into perspective, Apple's profit margin was 22.7%, while the average oil company's profit margin is 4-7%, and your average insurance company's profit margin is about 3%.

Kind of ironic considering a great many Apple supporters lean to the left, at least from what I've gathered.

What I find funny are those who blast companies with mega profits are the same people who bemoan when their retirement fund isn't growing at a massive rate. It is amazing how people don't see the link between company profitability and their retirement funding growing.

 

[twoodcc]

this is great for apple. they need to update those mac pros though