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Apple shares drop 10% after reporting record quarter

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced financial results for its fiscal 2008 third quarter ended June 28, 2008, reporting a record quarter. But Apple shares are down over 4% in after-hours trading.

Sure enough, Apple beat analyst estimates. It posted revenue of $7.46 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share, up from revenue of $5.41 billion and net quarterly profit of $818 million, or $.92 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected Apple to report net income of $972.6 million, or $1.08 per share, on sales of $7.4 billion.

While Mac and iPod shipments were in-line or better than what was expected with nearly 2.5 million Macs shipped and over 11 million iPods sold during the quarter, the number of iPhones sold came in a little light at 717,000.

Also, gross margin was 34.8%, down from 36.9% in the year-ago quarter. Specifically, the realized prices for iPods and Macs were lower.

Finally, Apple's guidance was well below analyst estimates. While this is normal for Apple, the company said it expects revenue of about $7.8 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.00. This is well below what analyst hoped it would guide (not what they estimate -- the average Wall Street target was $1.25 earnings per share and $8.3 billion revenue, according to Reuters Estimates).

Apple shares remain down about 4.4% at $158.82, and Apple will likely open lower Tuesday.

[Update: The shares are dropping 9.2% in after-hours to below $150. Apple said fiscal 2009 gross margin will shrink to 30% as it moves to higher reliance on phone sales over Macintosh sales, and this seems to concern investors. Another issue that came up is Steve Jobs health, to which Apple's CFO said it was a private matter. Many would beg to differ.]

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Last updated: August 29, 2008: 06:42 PM

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