Apple announced their fiscal 4th quarter results and it was mostly filled with good news. Apple beat Wall Street estimates of US$.45 per share that had been based on an earnings warning issued by Apple in September. Apple instead turned in profits of US$111 million or US$.63 per share. This included one time gains of sales of some 3 million shares of ARM stock which contributed US$37 million in profits. On a sour note, sales for the quarter were down to US$1.34 billion, a figure that was down some 14% from the year ago quarter.
Not counting this amount, Apple turned in a profit of US$.51 per share, still squashing the US$.45 estimates. Apple also announced that 250,000 new iMacs have been pre-ordered in only one week of sales. 300,000 iBook pre-orders have been accepted. All products combines, Apple has some US$700 million in backorders.
Overall, Apple saw higher sales in 1999 than they did in 1998.
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 1999 fourth quarter that ended September 25, 1999. For the quarter, the Company posted a net profit of $111 million, or $.63 per diluted share. These results compare to a net profit of $106 million, or $.68 per diluted share, achieved in the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter were $1.34 billion, down 14 percent from the year-ago quarter, and gross margins were 28.7 percent, up from 26.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 35 percent of the quarter's revenues.
The current quarter's results included a $21 million net favorable impact from non-recurring items, including an after-tax gain of $37 million resulting from the sale of approximately 3 million shares of ARM Holdings plc., and a net restructuring charge of $16 million for contract cancellation charges related to previously outsourced services and a previously discontinued business. Without these non-recurring items, the Company's net profit for the quarter would have been $90 million, or $.51 per diluted share.
"We are delighted by the response to our new products -- we have received orders for over 250,000 new iMacs in the first week since its announcement, and over 300,000 iBooks since its announcement in late July," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "We are geared up to ship all of our products in high volume this quarter."
"With our product transitions during the September quarter behind us, and an order backlog of over $700 million, we're poised for a very strong December quarter," said Fred Anderson, Apple's CFO.
For the year, the Company generated revenues of $6.1 billion and net earnings of $601 million, or $3.61 per diluted share. These results compare to fiscal 1998 revenues of $5.9 billion and net earnings of $309 million, or $2.10 per diluted share.
Apple also announced today that it has reconfigured the processor speeds in its Power Mac(TM) G4 line to better match demand with chip availability from Motorola. The new Power Mac G4 configurations will now include Power PC G4 processors running at 350 MHz, 400 MHz and 450 MHz, and will be priced at $1,599, $2,499 and $3,499, respectively. The 500 MHz G4 processor will not be available until the first calendar quarter of next year.
Apple also announced today that IBM will begin manufacturing G4 processor chips in the first half of calendar 2000 for use in Apple products.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the effect competitive and economic factors and the Company's reaction to them may have on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company's products; the ability of the Company to make timely delivery of new products and successful technological innovations to the marketplace; the continued availability of certain components and services essential to the Company's business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the ability of the Company to successfully evolve its operating system, and impact on the Company's business due to internal systems or systems of suppliers, infrastructure providers and other third parties adversely affected by year 2000 problems. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company's financial results is included from time to time in the Company's public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 26, 1999, and the Company's Form 10-K for the 1999 fiscal year to be filed with the SEC.
We will have a full analysis of the quarter's results from The Mac Observer's Business Editor, Wes George, on Thursday morning. For other reports on Apple's financial performance, check out our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.