On Tuesday, Apple staked its latest claim to world domination. In an innocuous statement of its first financial results for 2015, Apple announced a record quarterly net profit of $18 billion.
It is the highest quarterly profit in history, not just for Apple but for any public company.
The latest result means Apple occupies five of the top 20 record quarterly profits of all time, and three spots in the top five. The rest of the top 20 spots are shared between energy giants GazProm, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, with the last dominating with 12 record earnings.
For a comparison, here are the top three largest global quarterly earnings of all time.
Apple – $US18.04 billion, first quarter 2015
While the Christmas trading period is always bountiful for Apple, this season defied analysts' expectations, with record iPhone sales leading the charge. Over 74.5 million iPhones were sold, smashing the 65 million expected. That's about 30,000 sold every hour across the last quarter.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said revenue had grown 30 per cent over last year to $74.6 billion.
Gazprom – $US16.24 billion, first quarter 2011
Russia's largest company and the world's largest natural gas producer, Gazprom held the previous record for highest quarterly earnings with a $16 billion profit posted in 2011. The profit was a 44 per cent jump on its 2010 earnings for the same quarter, and was driven by sky-high natural gas prices.
ExxonMobil – $US14.8 billion, third quarter 2008
Despite the encroaching GFC, the world's largest oil company, Texas-based ExonnMobil posted a bonanza profit in September 2008 of $US14.8 billion, up 58 per cent from the previous year.. The result, which smashed its record in the previous quarter of $US11.68 billion, was propelled by high oil and natural gas prices.
How do Australian companies compare?
Australian companies typically release their profit results half yearly and annually, rather than quarterly.
In 2011, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, posted Australia's largest annual profit with earnings of $US23.6 billion. Falling commodity prices saw earnings decline remarkably in 2012, when it recorded its first profit decline in three years, posting $US15.4 billion. Smaller rival Rio Tinto also posted its highest profit in 2011, with earnings of $US15.6 billion.
In 2013, the Commonwealth Bank posted a record $7.8 billion profit, the largest recorded by an Australian bank.
Australia's largest grocery giant, Woolworths, posted its biggest profit of $2.45 billion in 2014.
