Apple Posted Q2 Profit of $46M, Beat Consensus Estimate by 20%

Late yesterday Apple announced its second quarter earnings, a $49 million net profit on earnings of 12 cents per share beating the consensus estimate by 20 per cent. The consensus estimate that we reported on Monday was 10 cents per share. Apple's sales were $1.9 billion, a 29% increase over the same quarter last year and a 5% decrease over the first quarter, traditionally a high quarter because it includes the holiday season.

Apple shipped over 749,000 Macs and 807,000 iPods in their second quarter, i.e. from January 1st though March 31st, 2004. These sales represent a 5% increase in Macs and a whopping 909% increase in iPod sales over the same quarter last year. Here are the unit sales details:

Unit Sales (1000s) by Product

Q2 2004	Q2 2003	% Change
iMac	217	256	-15
iBook	201	133	51
Power Mac	174	156	12
PowerBook	157	166	-5
iPod	807	80	909

Sales of iBooks increased a significant 51% over last year but were flat from the last quarter. Power Mac sales increased 12% over last year but decreased 19% below last quarter. iMac sales continue to decline significantly. While PowerBook sales declined only 5% from the same quarter last year, they declined nearly 20% below the previous quarter.

The star was the iPod, of course, with sales nine times last year and even 10% over the preceeding hot holiday quarter.

Revenue from Apple's retail stores increased nearly 100% over the same quarter last year but declined 4% below last quarter, the holiday season. Revenue increased year to year in the Americas and Europe but Japan showed a decline.

Except for iMacs and the Japan region, Apple's second quarter report is excellent. Here is Apple's press release for further details.