Apple's Q4 Earnings Break Records, But Miss Predictions

Surprise surprise, Apple is doing extremely well. For Q4 2011, Apple has broken a few new records, including number of Macs sold and iPads sold. What’s more, Apple’s astronomical growth isn’t just happening here in the United States — overseas sales are becoming the majority of Apple’s revenue stream. Despite this, Apple missed its revenue and iPhone goals. Does this portend slower growth for the technology behemoth? The VAR Guy has your answer …

According to Apple’s earnings release, the company raked in revenue of $28.27 billion, with a net profit of $6.62 billion. That’s up from Q4 2010, when Apple posted revenue of $20.34 billion, with $4.31 billion in net profit. Where’s all the revenue coming from? According to Apple, 63 percent of it is coming directly from “international sales.”

The Apple counter:

Apple CEO Tim Cook was “thrilled” with Apple’s progress, seeing $108 billion in growing annual revenue with earnings hitting $26 billion as a real comfy way to cruise into the holiday season. “We remain really enthusiastic about our product pipeline,” he said. Meanwhile, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer offered some rosy predictions for 2012:

But right now, it’s not happy times to be an Apple stockholder. According to the Associated Press:

As a result, Apple’s stock dropped to $394 from $422 in after-hours trading. That sounds like a harsh hit, but The VAR Guy believes it to be some FUD over the absence of Apple founder Steve Jobs and a small-miss prediction. Our resident blogger thinks Apple’s stock will rocket back up as the holiday season approaches and new products hit the Apple pipeline. Remember, Apple’s  iPhone 4S broke sales records, and there are always the new iPad and iPhone next year.