(By Balachander) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported quarterly earnings and revenue that trailed market expectations, as consumers wait for the new version of iPhone5. The technology giant, which declared a quarterly dividend of $2.65 a share, guided fourth-quarter below market expectations. Shares dropped 5.81 percent in extended trading.
Earnings per share (EPS) were $9.32 per share for the third quarter, compared with $7.79 per share in the year-ago quarter, missing Wall Street projections of $10.36 a share.
Revenue jumped 22.4 percent to $35.0 billion, yet trailed consensus estimate of a 30.1 percent growth to $37.18 billion.
The company's iPhone sales jumped 28 percent to 26.0 million units from the same period of last year, yet dropped nearly 26 percent on a sequential basis. Consensus estimate called in for iPhone sales of roughly 29 million units.
iPad sales surged 84 percent to 17.0 million units. Apple sold 4 million Macs, a 2 percent increase over the year-ago quarter. iPod sales dropped 10 percent to 6.8 million units.
Gross margin improved to 42.8 percent from 41.7 percent in the year-ago period.
The quarter ended June would be lower compared to the earlier two quarters, which were considered as strongest in the history of Apple.
Also, the sequential slowdown in iPhone shipments is expected to continue into the fourth quarter as consumers wait for the next edition of iPhone in the fall or may want to buy them at discounts when the new smartphone is launched.
For the fourth quarter, AAPL forecasts EPS of $7.65 on revenue of around $34 billion, while analysts expect EPS of $10.22 on revenue of $38.00 billion.
In the second quarter, Apple's EPS surged to $12.30 from $6.40, topping Wall Street view of $10.06 a share. Net sales surged 59 percent to $39.19 billion, versus expectations of $36.81 billion. iPhone sales jumped 88 percent to 35.1 million units, and iPad sales surged 151 percent to 11.8 million units. Apple sold 4 million Macintosh computers, an increase of 7 percent from last year.
Shares of Apple have gained 59 percent in the past year – an achievement considering the weak economic backdrop. Since its second quarter results, shares have increased 9 percent.
The stock, which has been trading between $353.02 and $644.00 over the past year, ended Tuesday's regular trading at $600.92.