Apple earnings are up, but miss Wall Street expectations

Apple yesterday announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2011. The company reported revenues of $28.27 billion and earnings of $6.62 billion, or $7.02 per share.

Those figures were up from sales of $20.34 billion and earnings per share of $4.64 a year ago. But the numbers still came in about 27 cents lower than Wall Street consensus estimates, sending the company's stock down around 6% in after-hours trading.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a note to investors that Apple's recent quarterly results were the first earnings and revenue miss since 2002. The reason: Apple sold 17.1 million units of its flagship phone, which still represented a 21% jump year-over-year, but not quite the average of 19 million units that analysts expected.

Apple iPhone shipments also saw a sequential decrease from the 20.34 million units sold last quarter. This is most likely the result of people holding out for the next iPhone, and if first weekend sales of the iPhone 4S are any indication, the Cupertino-based giant will recoup lost iPhone sales during the next quarter, the first of the 2012 fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the iPad saw its biggest quarter yet with 11.12 million units sold and accounting for $6.9 billion of Apple's revenue during the period. That is a 166% increase in units sold and a 146% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year. Mac sales were another bright spot for the company with 4.89 million units moved, a 26% increase over the year-ago quarter, suggesting Apple's computers are not as hard-hit by tablet cannibalization as the PC market.

Lastly, the iPod continued its decline as its tenth anniversary approaches this coming Sunday. Apple's portable music player sold 6.62 million units during the quarter, 27% less compared to the same quarter last year.

Looking beyond Apple's quarterly results Cnet posted an interesting overview of how the company performed during its entire fiscal 2011 year -- hint: they are doing pretty darn well. Here are some highlights:

• Apple's total revenue for the year was $108 billion, 66% more than fiscal 2010.
• Apple's cumulative earnings reached $25.9 billion, an 85% increase year over last year's $14 billion.
• The company now has $81 billion in cash reserves.
• Apple grew its retail empire with 40 new stores during the fiscal year.
• The company sold 72 million iPhones and 32 million iPads in the twelve months ended September 24, 2011.