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Is there anything Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) can't do? Seriously, I'm asking. The Mac maker badly underperformed analysts' estimates for iPad shipments -- just 4.7 million during the quarter versus the minimum 6.3 million observers were expecting -- in its just-released fiscal Q2 report, yet the company easily beat projections for earnings and revenue.
For the quarter, Apple earned $6.40 per diluted share on $24.67 billion in revenue. Analysts had been calling for $5.36 a share and $23.34 billion, respectively.
Who cares whether Steve Jobs is still on medical leave? Apple trumps Wall Street's prognosticators. Again. More details from the report:
- iPhone unit sales were up 113%, contravening earlier reports that Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android put a temporary kibosh on growth.
- Mac-related revenue soared 32% year over year while unit sales improved 28%. Laptop revenue grew 59%.
- Revenue from the once-iconic iPod fell 14% year over year, but sales of music, video, and e-books grew 23% over the same period.
- And finally, the iPad brought in only $2.8 billion in revenue, down from $4.7 billion in fiscal Q1. Investors who are used to seeing reports of the device acting as a PC replacement may be disappointed in those numbers.
So be it. Apple still managed to crush estimates in spite of a tsunami-fueled inability to fulfill iPad demand. It's a stunning performance for a business that's spent most of the past five years taking a bite out of old rivals Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
But is it enough to get investors buying the stock again? I'll have more on that in a follow-up commentary tomorrow. In the meantime, please vote in the poll below and then leave a comment to let us know whether you'd buy shares of Apple at current prices.
You can also rate Apple in Motley Fool CAPS and keep tabs on the company by adding the stock to your watchlist for free, personalized stock tracking.
