Apple's Q4 2012 earnings beats revenue expectations, misses profits

Apple has made its financial earnings call for Q4 of 2012 and the news is something of a mixed bag. The company is still making boatloads of cash and its revenues were higher than expected, but Apple's traditional strength - profits - came in lower than had been forecasted. Apple's revenues for Q4 came in at $36 billion, which is just a tad (~500 million) higher than was predicted by analysts, and a full $2 billion higher than Apple's own expectations. Apple stocks earned $8.67 per share, which was slightly lower than analyst predictions, but well higher than Apple's own obviously conservative estimates. 

Then there were profits, which has long been the calling card of Apple, a company that prides itself on getting huge margins on its products. Apple reported an impressive $8.2 billion in profit, which is not only lower than analysts predicted, but it's the 3rd straight quarter of lowered profits for Apple. As you can see in the chart to the right, after a hugely profitable Q1 2012, Apple's margins have dropped each quarter since.

Apple also reported 26.9 million iPhone sales, up 58% year-on-year, and 14 million iPads sold, a gain of 26% year-on-year. Mac sales were up just 1% compared to last year, at 4.9 million sold, and iPod sales were down 19% at 5.2 million.

Not a bad quarter, and Apple is predicting that Q1 of 2013 will bring in "revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75." Given that Apple tends to be conservative in its estimates, that points to a pretty big Q1 for the company.