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Cautious guidance bites Apple

Apple did everything right in its third quarter and posted robust earnings and revenue figures that bore that out. Like many other companies, however, Apple cautioned investors that the next quarter won't be as good as previously expected - and that bit of sobering news caused stock prices to plummet.

By most measures, Apple had a banner third quarter. It beat Wall Street's expectations for earnings, posting revenue of US$7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share. These results compare with revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales were brisk, as the earnings indicate: Apple shipped 2.49 million Macintosh computers during this quarter - a 41% increase from the same period last year. It sold 11,011,000 iPods during the quarter, representing a 12% unit growth and 7% revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. It also moved 717,000 iPhone units this past quarter, compared with 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter.

In short, it was the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple's history, said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we're busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months."

Read the full article here.

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