Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday reported a $106 million profit or $.26 per diluted share for the company’s fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $2.35 billion, up 37 percent from the year-ago quarter led by the shipment of over 2 million iPods.
In comparison, Apple reported a profit of $44 million, or $.12 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter. The quarter’s results include an after-tax restructuring charge of $4 million. Excluding this charge, the company’s net profit for the quarter would have been $110 million, or $.27 per diluted share.
“We are thrilled to report our highest fourth quarter revenue in nine years,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO in a statement. “We shipped over 2 million iPods, our Retail store revenue grew 95 percent year-over-year, and the new iMac G5 has received phenomenal reviews and is off to a great start.”
For the fourth quarter Apple shipped 836,000 Macs and 2,016,000 iPods. These numbers represent a 6 percent increase in CPUs and a 500 percent increase in iPods over the year-ago quarter.
For the year, Apple reported net income of $276 million on revenue of $8.28 billion compared to net income of $69 million on revenue of $6.21 billion in 2003.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2005, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said he expects revenue of between $2.8 and $2.9 billion, operating margin above 7 percent and earnings per diluted share of $.39 to $.42.
Apple stock closed up 3.81 percent at $39.75. In after hours trading the stock is up to $42.29 or 6.39 percent.