Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) surpassed analysts estimates when earnings were reported today but sales numbers surprised nearly everyone on the Street. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported earnings of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per share on $35.3 billion in sales. Wall Street was expecting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to post earnings of $7.32 per share on sales of $35 billion.
Apple (AAPL)’s iPhone sales
The numbers were largely due to to much better than expected sales of iPhones while both iPad and Mac sales were down considerably. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it sold 31.2 million iPhones, 14.6 million iPads, 3.8 million Macs, and 4.5 million iPods during the quarter. Wall Street was expecting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to have sold around 26 million iPhones, 17 million iPads, 4 million Macs, and around 6.8 million iPods, making the iPhone the real hero of the day.
“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”
Analysts largely believe that there will be another rehash of the iPhone along with a cheaper plastic model of the iconic phone seeing a potential release. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has long done a reasonably good job of keeping new products a mystery until the date of formal introduction and many are calling for an iWatch in early 2014.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose nearly 4 percent in after-hours trading gaining just over $16 per share.
AT&T did not meet analysts expectations
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) on the other hand fell just short of analyst’s expectations for the company when it reported its quarter’s numbers today.
In the latest quarter, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) added 551,000 customers who signed long-term service contracts, compared with 320,000 additions a year ago and 296,000 in the first quarter. In theory, these numbers should have resulted in more revenue but AT&T fell victim to higher operating costs.
All said, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) reported a profit of $3.82 billion, down from $3.9 billion the prior year. Revenue climbed 1.6 percent to $32.08 billion, but operating expenses jumped 4.9 percent.
Total wireless revenue, including equipment sales, climbed 5.7 percent, while total wireless revenue fell 0.9 percent year over year. Much of these losses can be blamed on other companies beginning to offer the iPhone. AT&T has fallen victim to large-scale defections each time a new carrier began offering the iPhone that AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) began offering as a total monopoly when it was first released.
“We’ve weathered Verizon getting the iPhone, Sprint getting the iPhone and now T-Mobile,” said AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega in an interview after the earnings call was made.
Competition getting tough
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) broke with its long standing tradition of announcing the number of iPhones the company sold in the quarter, quite possibly as to not credit its competitors who just gained access to the product. The company, showing the direction the smartphone market may be headed did suggest that they sold a record amount of smartphones operating Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android operating system.
The company’s shares were slightly lower in after hours trading at $35.50.
