Apple Inc. recorded strong and impressive fiscal fourth quarter earnings and sales after closing the books for the period on Tuesday. It is not what analysts were expecting, but it's not all that bad.
Market Watch notes that the Cupertino-based tech company usually records annual lows during this period given that it's before Holiday shopping season, but analysts have predicted how sales of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have pulled up their numbers.
On October 27, Apple's Press Info posting announced financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015 that closed on the 26th of September. Quarterly revenue was marked at $51.5 Billion, much higher than last year's (same quarter) $42.1 Billion. Net profit gained was $11.1 Billion, better than last year's $8.5 Billion.
Gross margin was 39.9 percent compared to 38 percent in the last quarter of 2014. 62 percent of all sales were international.
In the fourth quarter, Apple saw an increase in iPhone 6 and 6s sales from 47.5 million in Q3 to 48 million in the recent quarter. Sales missed the predicted number by half a million according to Tech Crunch.
Mac units are also up in sales this quarter at 5.7 million units sold in Q4, which CEO, Tim Cook, claims is an all-time high.
Apple's iPhone payment system, Apple Pay, also saw some significant growth, garnering a double digit increase on a month-over-month basis, the CEO continues to report. He also goes on to announce that Apple Pay will be partnering with American Express to bring the phone-based purchase and pay system to "eligible customers in key global markets." Analysts have nothing to add to the ongoing competition between Apple Pay and Android Pay after this announcement.
iPad units sold dropped from approximately 11 million to 10 million from Q3 to Q4 2015. This time last year, Apple was able to hit the 12 million devices sold mark - 2 million higher than this year's numbers for the Apple tablet.
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