Apple Inc. announced its financial results for its fiscal year 2013 fourth quarter results which ended on Sept 28, 2013.

"We're pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones. We're excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS," as stated by Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

"We generated $9.9 billion in cash flow from operations and returned an additional $7.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the September quarter, bringing cumulative payments under our capital return program to $36 billion," stated Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.

Key Points of Apple Inc. FY 13 Q4 Report:

  • quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.5 billion as compared to revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion
  • $8.26 per diluted share as compared to $8.67 per diluted share in 2012 fourth quarter
  • Gross margin was 37 per cent compared to 40 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
  • International sales accounted for 60 per cent of the quarter's revenue.
  • sold 33.8 million iPhones, a record for the September quarter, compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
  • sold 14.1 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 14 million in the year-ago quarter.
  • sold 4.6 million Macs, compared to 4.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
  • Apple's Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company's common stock. The dividend is payable on November 14, 2013, to shareholders on record as of the close of business on Nov 11, 2013.

For its Fiscal Year 2014 for First Quarter Apple is targeting:

  • revenue between $55 billion and $58 billion
  • gross margin between 36.5 per cent and 37.5 per cent
  • operating expenses between $4.4 billion and $4.5 billion
  • other income/(expense) of $200 million
  • tax rate of 26.25 per cent

Retina iPad Mini Supply Shortage

Steve Milunovich, an analyst from UBS, asked Mr Cook if Apple can meet the demand for the new iPad mini with retina display for the Christmas season.

"It's unclear whether we will have enough for the quarter or not. We know how many we will have, but you really don't know the demand until you start shipping," Mr Cook answered.

Even with this uncertainty, Mr Cook remain positive that Apple will do "fairly well" with the overall iPad sales. He even dubbed the coming season "an iPad Chirstmas." Mr Cook expressed much confidence that Apple will grow its iPad sales year-over-year in the December quarter.

Mr Cook explained that Apple does not focus on per unit sales of its devices but rather focuses on how to attract and retain loyal customers through customer satisfaction.