By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 04:00 PM EST

Apple said Monday that fourth-quarter profits rose more than 46 percent to 1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share, on sales of $9.87 billion for the three-month period ended September 26, 2009.

These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.6 percent, up from 34.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Apple sold 3.05 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The company also sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone sales were 7.4 million, representing seven percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

In accordance with the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, the Company recognizes revenue and cost of goods sold for iPhone and Apple TV over their estimated economic lives. Adjusting GAAP sales and product costs to eliminate the impact of subscription accounting, the corresponding non-GAAP measures* for the quarter are $12.25 billion of "Adjusted Sales" and $2.85 billion of "Adjusted Net Income."

"We are delighted with our September quarter and fiscal 2009 results," said Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer. "For the full year, we grew revenue by 12 percent and net income by 18 percent in extraordinarily challenging times. Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue in the range of about $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share in the range of about $1.70 to $1.78."

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2009 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime, Apple's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT. AppleInsider will provide live coverage.