Tech giant Apple (AAPL) delivered a rare miss for its fiscal 2012 third quarter after the bell on Tuesday.

Earnings per share came in at $9.32, well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.35. It was a 20% increase over the same quarter last year.

Net sales rose 23% year-over-year to $35.023 billion, well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $37.492 billion. Sales growth in the iPhone slowed significantly from previous quarters as consumers are likely holding out for the release of the iPhone 5. Unit growth by product segment was divided as follows:

  • iPhones: 28%
  • iPads: 84%
  • iPods: -10%
  • Macs: 2%

Approximately 62% of sales came from outside of the United States.

Gross profit expanded to 42.8% of sales, up from 41.7% in the same quarter last year.

Cash flow from operations rose 54% during the first 9 months of fiscal 2012 to $41.7 billion. Apple ended the quarter with a whopping $117.2 billion in cash, marketable securities and equity investments. That equates to $123.77 per share.

The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share on August 16 – its first dividend since 1995.

It will host its Q3 conference call at 5:00 p.m. EST today. Shares are down more 4% after hours.

Todd Bunton is the Growth & Income Stock Strategist for Zacks Investment Research.

Disclosure: The author is long Apple (AAPL).

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research