CUPERTINO — Apple’s latest quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, thanks to 48 million iPhone sales. But the company may have done little to quiet investor worries about its growth prospects.

Analysts, concerned that last year’s blockbuster iPhone sales would be hard to top, have been forecasting that Apple’s recently torrid growth would cool off considerably in the holiday quarter. Apple’s outlook for the period indicated Wall Street’s worries weren’t without merit: The company predicted flat sales compared with the same period last year.

Still, on a conference call with investors, CEO Tim Cook emphasized the positive, saying the company has good long-term growth prospects in China, in wearable technology with Apple Watch, in the living room with the new Apple TV and in music with the company’s Apple Music subscription service.

“Everywhere I look, I see significant opportunities,” Cook said.

On the whole, investors seemed to be reserving judgment. Following Apple’s report and the call, its shares vacillated between being slightly up and slightly down in after-hours trading. In late exchanges, the company’s stock was up 5 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $114.60.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, the electronics maker earned $11.1 billion, or $1.96 a share. Total profits were up 30 percent from the year-earlier period, when the company earned $8.5 billion, or $1.42 a share.

Apple tallied $51.5 billion in sales in the most recent quarter, a figure that was up 22 percent from its fourth quarter last year.

Both the company’s top and bottom line surpassed analysts’ forecasts. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.88 a share on sales of $51.1 billion.

The company did not provide specific earnings guidance for its first quarter, which coincides with the upcoming holiday season. But it did say it expected to see sales of between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. And its detailed forecast of expenses, taxes and the like implies that the company expects to see earnings of between $17.3 billion and $18.5 billion. On a per-share basis, that works out to be around $3.04 to $3.26 a share, assuming that Apple’s share count remains the same.

Before the report, analysts were calling for earnings of $3.22 a share in the holiday period on $77.1 billion in revenue. Last year, the company earned $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on $74.6 billion in sales.

Analysts and investors had been worrying about how many iPhones Apple will sell in the coming year. Last year’s models — the first-ever large-screen iPhones — were blockbuster hits. By contrast, this year’s versions offer just incremental improvements, and some analysts fretted that Apple would be hard-pressed to top last year’s sales.

Apple’s iPhone sales surged again in the just-completed quarter, which only included two-days’ worth of sales of the new models. In the period, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, which was in line with analysts’ estimates, but up from the 39.3 million the company sold in the same period last year. More impressively, the revenue it saw from its iPhone sales was up 36 percent from the same period last year to $32.2 billion, implying that Apple was able to sell phones at higher prices than it did a year ago.

On the conference call, Cook forecast that the number of iPhones Apple will sell in the fourth quarter and the revenue it will receive from those sales will both grow in the quarter. But given the importance of the iPhone to Apple’s overall results — the product line accounted for 63 percent of the company’s overall revenue in the most recent quarter — its flat sales outlook implies that the predicted growth will be slow at best.

But given the questions that have surrounded the company recently, the fact that Cook is predicting growth at all should be reassuring, said Gene Munster, a financial analyst who covers the company for Piper Jaffray.

“Modest growth is a win,” said Munster, who doesn’t own the stock and whose firm hasn’t recently done investment banking for Apple.

And there’s reason to hope that things will improve longer term, Munster added. Some 30 percent of people who are exchanging another smartphone for an iPhone are switching from Android, Cook said on the call. That indicates that there’s room for Apple to steal market share from its chief rivals, Munster said. Meanwhile, a new upgrade plan that Apple launched with the latest iPhones should spur faster upgrades.

“They’re laying the groundwork for why you should be optimistic today,” he said.

Analysts had also speculated that the slowdown in the Chinese economy would hurt Apple’s results. China has become the second largest geographical market for the company after the Americas.

Sales in China did fall 5 percent to $12.5 billion from Apple’s third to its fourth quarter. But compared with its fourth quarter last year, Apple’s Chinese revenue was up 99 percent.

Apple’s shares closed regular trading on Tuesday down 73 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $114.55.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.

CUPERTINO — Apple’s latest quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, thanks to 48 million iPhone sales. But the company may have done little to quiet investor worries about its growth prospects.

Analysts, concerned that last year’s blockbuster iPhone sales would be hard to top, have been forecasting that Apple’s recently torrid growth would cool off considerably in the holiday quarter. Apple’s outlook for the period indicated Wall Street’s worries weren’t without merit: The company predicted flat sales compared with the same period last year.

Still, on a conference call with investors, CEO Tim Cook emphasized the positive, saying the company has good long-term growth prospects in China, in wearable technology with Apple Watch, in the living room with the new Apple TV and in music with the company’s Apple Music subscription service.

“Everywhere I look, I see significant opportunities,” Cook said.

On the whole, investors seemed to be reserving judgment. Following Apple’s report and the call, its shares vacillated between being slightly up and slightly down in after-hours trading. In late exchanges, the company’s stock was up 5 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $114.60.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, the electronics maker earned $11.1 billion, or $1.96 a share. Total profits were up 30 percent from the year-earlier period, when the company earned $8.5 billion, or $1.42 a share.

Apple tallied $51.5 billion in sales in the most recent quarter, a figure that was up 22 percent from its fourth quarter last year.

Both the company’s top and bottom line surpassed analysts’ forecasts. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.88 a share on sales of $51.1 billion.

The company did not provide specific earnings guidance for its first quarter, which coincides with the upcoming holiday season. But it did say it expected to see sales of between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. And its detailed forecast of expenses, taxes and the like implies that the company expects to see earnings of between $17.3 billion and $18.5 billion. On a per-share basis, that works out to be around $3.04 to $3.26 a share, assuming that Apple’s share count remains the same.

Before the report, analysts were calling for earnings of $3.22 a share in the holiday period on $77.1 billion in revenue. Last year, the company earned $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on $74.6 billion in sales.

Analysts and investors had been worrying about how many iPhones Apple will sell in the coming year. Last year’s models — the first-ever large-screen iPhones — were blockbuster hits. By contrast, this year’s versions offer just incremental improvements, and some analysts fretted that Apple would be hard-pressed to top last year’s sales.

Apple’s iPhone sales surged again in the just-completed quarter, which only included two-days’ worth of sales of the new models. In the period, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, which was in line with analysts’ estimates, but up from the 39.3 million the company sold in the same period last year. More impressively, the revenue it saw from its iPhone sales was up 36 percent from the same period last year to $32.2 billion, implying that Apple was able to sell phones at higher prices than it did a year ago.

On the conference call, Cook forecast that the number of iPhones Apple will sell in the fourth quarter and the revenue it will receive from those sales will both grow in the quarter. But given the importance of the iPhone to Apple’s overall results — the product line accounted for 63 percent of the company’s overall revenue in the most recent quarter — its flat sales outlook implies that the predicted growth will be slow at best.

But given the questions that have surrounded the company recently, the fact that Cook is predicting growth at all should be reassuring, said Gene Munster, a financial analyst who covers the company for Piper Jaffray.

“Modest growth is a win,” said Munster, who doesn’t own the stock and whose firm hasn’t recently done investment banking for Apple.

And there’s reason to hope that things will improve longer term, Munster added. Some 30 percent of people who are exchanging another smartphone for an iPhone are switching from Android, Cook said on the call. That indicates that there’s room for Apple to steal market share from its chief rivals, Munster said. Meanwhile, a new upgrade plan that Apple launched with the latest iPhones should spur faster upgrades.

“They’re laying the groundwork for why you should be optimistic today,” he said.

Analysts had also speculated that the slowdown in the Chinese economy would hurt Apple’s results. China has become the second largest geographical market for the company after the Americas.

Sales in China did fall 5 percent to $12.5 billion from Apple’s third to its fourth quarter. But compared with its fourth quarter last year, Apple’s Chinese revenue was up 99 percent.

Apple’s shares closed regular trading on Tuesday down 73 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $114.55.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.

CUPERTINO — Apple’s latest quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, thanks to 48 million iPhone sales. But the company may have done little to quiet investor worries about its growth prospects.

Analysts, concerned that last year’s blockbuster iPhone sales would be hard to top, have been forecasting that Apple’s recently torrid growth would cool off considerably in the holiday quarter. Apple’s outlook for the period indicated Wall Street’s worries weren’t without merit: The company predicted flat sales compared with the same period last year.

Still, on a conference call with investors, CEO Tim Cook emphasized the positive, saying the company has good long-term growth prospects in China, in wearable technology with Apple Watch, in the living room with the new Apple TV and in music with the company’s Apple Music subscription service.

“Everywhere I look, I see significant opportunities,” Cook said.

On the whole, investors seemed to be reserving judgment. Following Apple’s report and the call, its shares vacillated between being slightly up and slightly down in after-hours trading. In late exchanges, the company’s stock was up 5 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $114.60.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, the electronics maker earned $11.1 billion, or $1.96 a share. Total profits were up 30 percent from the year-earlier period, when the company earned $8.5 billion, or $1.42 a share.

Apple tallied $51.5 billion in sales in the most recent quarter, a figure that was up 22 percent from its fourth quarter last year.

Both the company’s top and bottom line surpassed analysts’ forecasts. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.88 a share on sales of $51.1 billion.

The company did not provide specific earnings guidance for its first quarter, which coincides with the upcoming holiday season. But it did say it expected to see sales of between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. And its detailed forecast of expenses, taxes and the like implies that the company expects to see earnings of between $17.3 billion and $18.5 billion. On a per-share basis, that works out to be around $3.04 to $3.26 a share, assuming that Apple’s share count remains the same.

Before the report, analysts were calling for earnings of $3.22 a share in the holiday period on $77.1 billion in revenue. Last year, the company earned $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on $74.6 billion in sales.

Analysts and investors had been worrying about how many iPhones Apple will sell in the coming year. Last year’s models — the first-ever large-screen iPhones — were blockbuster hits. By contrast, this year’s versions offer just incremental improvements, and some analysts fretted that Apple would be hard-pressed to top last year’s sales.

Apple’s iPhone sales surged again in the just-completed quarter, which only included two-days’ worth of sales of the new models. In the period, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, which was in line with analysts’ estimates, but up from the 39.3 million the company sold in the same period last year. More impressively, the revenue it saw from its iPhone sales was up 36 percent from the same period last year to $32.2 billion, implying that Apple was able to sell phones at higher prices than it did a year ago.

On the conference call, Cook forecast that the number of iPhones Apple will sell in the fourth quarter and the revenue it will receive from those sales will both grow in the quarter. But given the importance of the iPhone to Apple’s overall results — the product line accounted for 63 percent of the company’s overall revenue in the most recent quarter — its flat sales outlook implies that the predicted growth will be slow at best.

But given the questions that have surrounded the company recently, the fact that Cook is predicting growth at all should be reassuring, said Gene Munster, a financial analyst who covers the company for Piper Jaffray.

“Modest growth is a win,” said Munster, who doesn’t own the stock and whose firm hasn’t recently done investment banking for Apple.

And there’s reason to hope that things will improve longer term, Munster added. Some 30 percent of people who are exchanging another smartphone for an iPhone are switching from Android, Cook said on the call. That indicates that there’s room for Apple to steal market share from its chief rivals, Munster said. Meanwhile, a new upgrade plan that Apple launched with the latest iPhones should spur faster upgrades.

“They’re laying the groundwork for why you should be optimistic today,” he said.

Analysts had also speculated that the slowdown in the Chinese economy would hurt Apple’s results. China has become the second largest geographical market for the company after the Americas.

Sales in China did fall 5 percent to $12.5 billion from Apple’s third to its fourth quarter. But compared with its fourth quarter last year, Apple’s Chinese revenue was up 99 percent.

Apple’s shares closed regular trading on Tuesday down 73 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $114.55.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.

CUPERTINO — Apple’s latest quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations, thanks to 48 million iPhone sales. But the company may have done little to quiet investor worries about its growth prospects.

Analysts, concerned that last year’s blockbuster iPhone sales would be hard to top, have been forecasting that Apple’s recently torrid growth would cool off considerably in the holiday quarter. Apple’s outlook for the period indicated Wall Street’s worries weren’t without merit: The company predicted flat sales compared with the same period last year.

Still, on a conference call with investors, CEO Tim Cook emphasized the positive, saying the company has good long-term growth prospects in China, in wearable technology with Apple Watch, in the living room with the new Apple TV and in music with the company’s Apple Music subscription service.

“Everywhere I look, I see significant opportunities,” Cook said.

On the whole, investors seemed to be reserving judgment. Following Apple’s report and the call, its shares vacillated between being slightly up and slightly down in after-hours trading. In late exchanges, the company’s stock was up 5 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $114.60.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, the electronics maker earned $11.1 billion, or $1.96 a share. Total profits were up 30 percent from the year-earlier period, when the company earned $8.5 billion, or $1.42 a share.

Apple tallied $51.5 billion in sales in the most recent quarter, a figure that was up 22 percent from its fourth quarter last year.

Both the company’s top and bottom line surpassed analysts’ forecasts. On average, Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.88 a share on sales of $51.1 billion.

The company did not provide specific earnings guidance for its first quarter, which coincides with the upcoming holiday season. But it did say it expected to see sales of between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. And its detailed forecast of expenses, taxes and the like implies that the company expects to see earnings of between $17.3 billion and $18.5 billion. On a per-share basis, that works out to be around $3.04 to $3.26 a share, assuming that Apple’s share count remains the same.

Before the report, analysts were calling for earnings of $3.22 a share in the holiday period on $77.1 billion in revenue. Last year, the company earned $18 billion, or $3.06 a share, on $74.6 billion in sales.

Analysts and investors had been worrying about how many iPhones Apple will sell in the coming year. Last year’s models — the first-ever large-screen iPhones — were blockbuster hits. By contrast, this year’s versions offer just incremental improvements, and some analysts fretted that Apple would be hard-pressed to top last year’s sales.

Apple’s iPhone sales surged again in the just-completed quarter, which only included two-days’ worth of sales of the new models. In the period, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, which was in line with analysts’ estimates, but up from the 39.3 million the company sold in the same period last year. More impressively, the revenue it saw from its iPhone sales was up 36 percent from the same period last year to $32.2 billion, implying that Apple was able to sell phones at higher prices than it did a year ago.

On the conference call, Cook forecast that the number of iPhones Apple will sell in the fourth quarter and the revenue it will receive from those sales will both grow in the quarter. But given the importance of the iPhone to Apple’s overall results — the product line accounted for 63 percent of the company’s overall revenue in the most recent quarter — its flat sales outlook implies that the predicted growth will be slow at best.

But given the questions that have surrounded the company recently, the fact that Cook is predicting growth at all should be reassuring, said Gene Munster, a financial analyst who covers the company for Piper Jaffray.

“Modest growth is a win,” said Munster, who doesn’t own the stock and whose firm hasn’t recently done investment banking for Apple.

And there’s reason to hope that things will improve longer term, Munster added. Some 30 percent of people who are exchanging another smartphone for an iPhone are switching from Android, Cook said on the call. That indicates that there’s room for Apple to steal market share from its chief rivals, Munster said. Meanwhile, a new upgrade plan that Apple launched with the latest iPhones should spur faster upgrades.

“They’re laying the groundwork for why you should be optimistic today,” he said.

Analysts had also speculated that the slowdown in the Chinese economy would hurt Apple’s results. China has become the second largest geographical market for the company after the Americas.

Sales in China did fall 5 percent to $12.5 billion from Apple’s third to its fourth quarter. But compared with its fourth quarter last year, Apple’s Chinese revenue was up 99 percent.

Apple’s shares closed regular trading on Tuesday down 73 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $114.55.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285. Follow him at Twitter.com/troywolv.