Apple Inc. yesterday announced financial results for its fiscal 2015 first quarter which ended December 27, 2014. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant posted record quarterly revenue of $74.6 billion and a record quarterly net profit of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share. Compared to the year-ago quarter with revenue of $57.6 billion and net profit of $13.1 billion, or $2.07 per diluted share, a record quarter at the time, these latest numbers are staggering.

These numbers are largely due to record sales of the iPhone and Mac. The App Store also played a significant role, seeing a 50 percent increase in sales for 2014.

The iPhone alone sold 74.5 million units, setting a new record. Apple said that 65 percent of revenue for the quarter came from international sales.

Sales in China increased by 70 percent thanks to the popularity of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the region. Apple continues to expand its presence there and aims to have 40 company stores in greater China by mid-2016. iPhone sales in Singapore and Brazil also doubled over the period.

Apple’s first quarter profit of $18 billion, a record among public companies, worldwide, puts the company’s cash reserves at $178 billion. This is enough money to buy IBM or to give every American $556 according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt.

“Our exceptional results produced EPS growth of 48 percent over last year, and $33.7 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter, an all-time record,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We spent over $8 billion on our capital return program, bringing total returns to investors to almost $103 billion, over $57 billion of which occurred in just the last 12 months.”

Looking ahead at the second quarter of its fiscal 2015, Apple forecast revenue between $52 billion and $55 billion with an expected gross margin between 38.5 percent and 39.5 percent.

Apple declared a cash dividend of $0.47 per share, payable on February 12 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 9.

Apple shares rose around 5 percent to $114.90 in after-hours trade.

Image courtesy Apple