Apple Posts Record September Quarter with Record iPhone and Mac Sales

$AAPLApple posted record revenue and record earnings for the September quarter on Tuesday, beating expectations. The company posted revenue of $51.5 billion, well ahead of last year's $42.1 billion; the company also posted earnings of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 in earnings per share (EPS). Last year's profit was $8.5 billion with EPS was $1.42.

For the fiscal year, Apple posted a staggering $234 billion in revenue, up 28 percent year over year. In a statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "This continued success is the result of our commitment to making the best, most innovative products on earth, and it's a testament to the tremendous execution by our teams."

The company said that iPhone sales hit a new record, and attributed Apple Watch for the first time, though the company has yet to specify how many of either device it sold. Apple also said it set a new record for both Mac sales and the company's broader services category.

"Apple's record September quarter results drove earnings per share growth of 38% and operating cash flow of $13.5 billion," Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, said. "We returned $17 billion to our investors during the quarter through share repurchases and dividends, and we have now completed over $143 billion of our $200 billion capital return program."

Apple provided impressive guidance for the December quarter with revenues between $75.5 and $77.5 billion. The company expects gross margins between 39 and 40 percent, with operating expenses between $6.3 billion and $6.4 billion. Apple's tax rate was guided to 26.2 percent.

Apple will pay a $0.52 dividend per share payable on November 12, 2015.

the company's stock edged lower ahead of the report to close at $114.55 per share, down $0.73 (-0.63 percent), on strong volume of 66 million shares trading hands.

In the after hours market, Apple jumped to $116.63 per share, up 2.08 (+1.82 percent) as of this writing.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a tiny, almost insignificant share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.