From Bloomberg:
In looking ahead to the second quarter, Apple forecast revenue of about $32.5 billion and profit of $8.50 a share. That compares with average analysts’ predictions for sales of $31.9 billion and profit of $7.96 a share.
Except for the period that ended in September 2011, when customers put off iPhone purchases in anticipation of the 4S, Apple’s profit hasexceeded analysts’ projections in every quarter for at least six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The quarterly results mark the first time Apple’s revenue topped Hewlett-Packard’s, underscoring how the company’s focus on sleek, touch-screen mobile devices has rearranged the technology industry’s pecking order.
Apple’s net income exceeded total revenue at Google (GOOG), Apple’s largest rival in mobile operating systems, for the period.
“Those numbers are just unimaginable,” said Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer at First Empire Asset Management, which has $4 billion under management, including Apple shares. “It’s still an extremely well-managed company and they are showing that the product pipeline is sufficient even now to generate growth rates that are unrivaled.”
Read the rest here. The largest quarterly revenue ever posted by a technology company. And this in the quarter that saw the debut of the “disappointing” iPhone 4S and the rollout of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which was supposed to take a healthy chunk of the iPad’s dominance. (The iPad grew 111% from the same quarter the previous year.)
Apple’s continued success is simply stunning.
