Apple fiscal third-quarter revenue growth driven by iPhone, Mac sales

Apple posted strong fiscal third-quarter results driven by iPhone and Mac sales.

The company on Tuesday reported quarterly revenue of $37.4 billion and net profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share. Analysts had expected profit of $1.23 a share.

That revenue was up from $35.32 billion a year earlier, and at the high end of the $36 billion to $38 billion forecast from Apple.

However, it was slightly below analysts’ forecasted revenue of $37.98 billion for the quarter.

Apple reported that it sold 35.2 million iPhones, up from 31.2 million a year earlier. That topped the consensus analyst estimate of 35 million, but fell short of some of the more optimistic projections. For instance, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty estimated that 39 million iPhones were sold during the quarter.

Perhaps most troubling for Apple, though, was another dismal performance by the iPad.

Apple sold only 13.2 million in the quarter, down from 16.3 million in the previous quarter and 14.6 million a year earlier.

“Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a statement.

Apple executives planned to discuss the results in a conference call scheduled to start at 2 p.m. on the West Coast.

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