iPad sales up, Macs flat, as Apple reports on Q2 earnings

As some investors feared, Apple on Tuesday reported numbers that were worse than its performance a year ago for the second quarter—though the company still saw record sales for its March quarter.

The company posted $43.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, with net profit of $9.5 billion. That puts earnings at $10.09 per diluted share, down from $12.30 a year ago. In the same quarter last year, Apple reported $39.2 billion in revenue and profit of $11.6 billion.

While Wall Street is sure to take a dim view of Apple’s quarterly performance, it’s worth noting the company had a large bar to clear to surpass the second quarter of 2012. In that year-ago quarter, Apple saw profit nearly double to record levels for the March quarter on the strength of the strength of the third-generation iPad’s debut. In the just-completed quarter, Apple didn’t introduce any new products.

Apple’s gross margin for the quarter was down nearly 10 percent from the year-ago quarter: 37.5 percent for the 2013 quarter, compared to 47.4 percent for the second quarter of 2012.

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