"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010." Click to expand...

Apple today announced financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter (third calendar quarter) of 2009. Apple posted revenue of $9.87 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.6 percent, compared to 34.7 percent in the year-ago quarter, and international sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter's revenue. The numbers represent the most profitable quarter in Apple's history and include record-breaking Mac and iPhone quarterly sales.Using non-GAAP data, which eliminates subscription-based accounting for the iPhone and Apple TV, Apple would have had $12.25 billion revenue and $2.85 billion of net income. The subscription-based accounting used for Apple's official results parcels out income from iPhone and Apple TV sales over a 24-month period from the date of sale, whereas the non-GAAP results count the entire revenue from these sales in the quarter they were made.Apple shipped 3.05 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, a unit increase of 17 percent over the year-ago quarter. The company also sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing 8 percent unit decline over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone unit sales reached 7.4 million, up 7 percent from the year-ago quarter.Apple's guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 includes expected revenue of $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $1.70 to $1.78.Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2009 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, andwill update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.Article Link: Apple Reports $1.67 Billion Profit for Q4 2009, Most Profitable Quarter Ever