, Columnist
Honey, I Shrunk Apple’s Profit Margins
R&D spending is the culprit, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s being put to good use.
The big Apple isn’t as big as it used to be.
Photographer: Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images
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Apple Inc. has been a profit geyser well before it was valued at the $1 trillion milestone the company reached on Thursday. Even Warren Buffett is impressed. “It is an unbelievable company,” the legendary investor and Apple stockholder said in May as he marveled that Apple earns almost twice as much as the second-most profitable company in the U.S.
Buffett is right. Apple reported $68 billion in profit before taxes and non-operating items in the last year. In distant second place is JPMorgan Chase & Co. with $39 billion in operating profit. 286