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Apple blew past Wall Street’s expectations and sent its stock soaring after reporting that it sold 35.1 million iPhones in the latest quarter, beating analysts’ forecasts of 32 million, and up from 18.65 million a year ago.

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“Apple is really in the hardware business, not the software business—it just uses the sales of apps, music, movies, etc., to help sell gadgets. But boy does it sell a lot of software."

Apple
blew past Wall Street’s expectations and sent its stock soaring after reporting that it sold 35.1 million iPhones in the latest quarter, beating analysts’ forecasts of 32 million, and up from 18.65 million a year ago.
Remarkably, Apple sold nearly as many iPhones in the March quarter as it did in the December quarter—37 million, the Wall Street Journal pointed out. That was despite the fact that the company benefited both from holiday purchases and pent-up demand for the then-new iPhone 4S late last year.
The company also sold 11.8 million iPads, along with 4 million Macs and 15 million iPods. Yup, they still make iPods.
“We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter,” CEO Tim Cook said in the company’s earnings release. “The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”
Apple also said demand for the newest version of the iPad, released by Apple last month, was outstripping supply of the product, leading to shortages, the N.Y. Times reported. They said it remained their fastest-growing business and that Apple had sold 67 million iPads since the first model went on sale in 2010. Cook said it took 24 years for Apple to sell that many Macs.
And that’s not all, folks. iTunes sales came in at $1.9 billion last quarter, which puts the digital store at a run rate of $8 billion. That’s up 35% from a year ago, when iTunes did $1.4 billion. During Apple’s conference call [Tuesday], CFO Peter Oppenheimer answered a query about delays getting new content into iTunes with a boast about the depth of the store’s music and video catalog. But as always, my assumption is that the bulk of that growth is fueled by app sales, not traditional media sales.”
Apple’s revenue rose to $39.19 billion in the quarter ended March 31, up from $24.67 billion a year ago. It also topped earnings expectations with $11.6 million, or $12.30 a share—well above analysts’ predictions of $10.07 a share.
Apple’s stock had slid in recent weeks, after reaching an all-time high of $644 on April 10, amid concerns that quarterly results—in particular iPhone sales—would fall short of expectations. Instead, iPhone shipments jumped 88% in the quarter, as Apple continued to penetrate new markets like China. The strong results pushed up shares nearly 8% to $603.35 in after-hours trading.
Not everybody was blown away. BGC analyst Colin Gillis told the N.Y. Post that Apple boosted the final iPhone tally with more inventory on store shelves and not necessarily more sales to consumers. There were 8.6 million iPhones in the “channel,” an increase of 2.6 million from the prior quarter. Without that extra inventory, Apple would have missed iPhone targets, according to. “Apple jammed iPhones into their channel, but the channel gets full, so you can’t put more through,” Gillis said.
Apple watchers are looking for the next-gen iPhone, which will almost certainly be called iPhone 5, to debut by October, and they expect it to be an entirely new design.
AT&T also announced results yesterday, with iPhone sales down 43% from the prior quarter to 4.3 million. Verizon reported a similar iPhone slump last week, and analysts said the numbers show some slowing in the U.S. for the iPhone. That won’t change in the coming months, as prospective iPhone buyers wait for the new model.
Nonetheless, expectations for Apple's stock remain sky-high, with some analysts having 12-month price targets approaching $1,000 a share.

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