JEDDAH – Apple posted quarterly revenue of $49.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $10.7 billion, or $1.85 per diluted share for its fiscal 2015 third quarter ended June 27, 2015, the company said Wednesday. These results compare to revenue of $37.4 billion and net profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.7 percent compared to 39.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's revenue. The growth was fueled by record third quarter sales of iPhone and Mac, all-time record revenue from services and the successful launch of Apple Watch. “We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59 percent over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. “The excitement for Apple Music has been incredible, and we're looking forward to releasing iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and watchOS 2 to customers in the fall.” “In the third quarter our year-over-year growth rate accelerated from the first half of fiscal 2015, with revenue up 33 percent and earnings per share up 45 percent,” said Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO. “We generated very strong operating cash flow of $15 billion, and we returned over $13 billion to shareholders through our capital return program.” For its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter Apple sees revenue between $49 billion and $51 billion, gross margin between 38.5 percent and 39.5 percent, operating expenses between $5.85 billion and $5.95 billion, other income/(expense) of $400 million, and tax rate of 26.3 percent. Apple's board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $.52 per share of the company's common stock. The dividend is payable on Aug. 13, 2015, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 10, 2015. — SG
