Apple's stock down

Despite record setting earnings for the third quarter of 2008, Apple's stock is down sharply in after-hours trading. As of 4:45 PST, shares were hovering at $148.94, down $17.35 or 10.43 percent. Apple posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share for its fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, 2008. In the best June quarter in its history, the company sold almost 2.5 million Macs, or a 41 percent increase from the year-ago quarter and over 11 million iPods.

However, the company also guided lower than analyst expectations for next quarter. "Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $7.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. Analysts had projected profits of $1.24 per share on $8.32 billion in sales.

Apple said it shipped 2,496,000 Macs during the quarter, representing 41 percent unit growth and 43 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. The Company also said it sold 11,011,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 12 percent unit growth and seven percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone units sold were 717,000 compared to 270,000 in the year-ago-quarter.

The news comes after Apple's quarterly financial report, where the company revealed it experienced its best June quarter in its history, where it had extreme success with retail and education markets. Apple also revealed its good fortune with overall revenue, and international product sales, where the bulk of its revenue came from North America.

by MacNN Staff