Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

No way to hide this:<p><pre><code> 2013: Revenue $37.5B, Profit $7.5B (20%) 2012: Revenue $36.0B, Profit $8.2B (22%) </code></pre> Loss of 2% net profit year over year. Just under a 5% drop per share on a diluted basis. So its becoming less profitable to be Apple which speaks to the margin pressure they are under from credible Android phones and tablets. I don&#x27;t think the market expected that (or maybe they did, GOOG is trading over $1000 these days)

Apple deferred nearly a billion dollars in revenue due to the switch to free software. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/28/apple-says-future-versions-of-os-x-will-be-free-notes-900m-increase-in-costs-from-free-software/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;techcrunch.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;10&#x2F;28&#x2F;apple-says-future-versions-...</a>

Interesting that iPad sales were flat year over year. I would have thought it would have contracted without new iPads launched.<p>Also the big increase in iPhone sales year over year jives with what Asymco has posted about Android peaking. The easy growth from feature phones being replaced by low-end Android devices is over.

Damn net profit of 7.5billion is now lower than samsung&#x27;s 8.13billion.

I wonder what percentage of HN is invested in apple, compared to the rest of investing community. I wonder what sort of biases, deeper understanding of technology, and&#x2F;or hype trains cause that difference to arise. And above all, I wonder if Apple can finally solve 5S supply problems and deliver a hit Christmas quarter.

CNBC&#x27;s summary explains the negative reaction to the earnings:<p><i>Apple posted better than expected earnings and revenue for its fourth-quarter on Monday, but shares still took a hit in after-hours trading.</i><p><i>The tech giant posted $8.26 a share on $37.5 billion in revenue. The street estimated the company would post $7.96 a share on revenue of $36.93 billion. But investors were disappointed with guidance for gross margins.</i><p><i>During the current quarter, the company expects gross margins of 36.5 percent to 37.5 percent, which missed forecasts of 37.9 percent.</i><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101149511" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnbc.com&#x2F;id&#x2F;101149511</a>

I think a lot of this is expected no? The mobile market is maturing, and they are making less profitable versions of their products. Its interesting to see how investors react to Microsoft and Apple who are both hugely profitable, and then some start ups(ahem, twitter, pinterest, snapchat) with no proven business model get huge valuations. I know that investors are trying to predict the market, but the second a hugely profitable company seems unfashionable(for lack of a better word) any slight variation in performance is panned in the press and the stock gets sold off.

Sounds like the iPhone 5C slight of hand didn&#x27;t work[1]. It makes sense to me, its last-years-model with cheaper materials. There&#x27;s no reason it should be more popular than last-years-model usually are, except for the extra marketing which in this case didn&#x27;t seem to help much.<p><a href="http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/10/apple-inc-earnings-iphone-5c-activations/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.valuewalk.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;10&#x2F;apple-inc-earnings-iphone-5...</a>

As someone who has to buy Apple devices for work, I&#x27;m hoping they get some pressure to drop their prices, especially on MBPros. My next one will probably cost a bomb since the new ones don&#x27;t let you stick in third party ram - though the SSD is replacable (with considerable effort)

I thought the history of Apples profit margins were interesting. What happened in Q3 2010 when it was last this low?<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/gross_profit_margin" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ycharts.com&#x2F;companies&#x2F;AAPL&#x2F;gross_profit_margin</a>

Next quarter should be very interesting. New iMacs are out, new iPads, and of course the new Mac Pro. So out of all quarters which tend to be Apple&#x27;s weakest?<p>Perhaps getting more predictable in releases softens earnings in certain quarters?

Markets are hammering AAPL. Down $15 (about 3%) after-hours.<p><a href="https://www.google.com/finance?q=aapl" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.google.com&#x2F;finance?q=aapl</a>

Well, that spaceship costs a lot.

Shares trading down 3% in AH.