Apple earnings up 50pc on Macs, IPhone
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APPLE reported a 50pc jump in first-quarter profit, buoyed by holiday orders for the iPhone and Macintosh computer.
Net income rose to $3.38bn, or $3.67 a share, from $2.26bn, or $2.50, a year earlier, Apple said last night in a statement. Sales rose to $15.7bn. The company said it changed the way it accounts for iPhone sales, which means the figures aren't comparable to analysts' estimates.
CEO Steve Jobs added iMac desktops in October to spur holiday demand and started selling the iPhone in China, the world's biggest mobile-phone market.
Apple said it sold 8.7 million iPhones and 3.36 million Macs in the quarter. Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis, said investors were looking for almost 8.8 million iPhones and 3.1 million to 3.2 million Macs.
"The iPhone and Mac have a similar situation -- they have small percentages of a larger overall market, so if they move even a small percentage, there's great upside for Apple," said Barry Jaruzelski, a partner with Booz & Co in New York.
Sales this quarter will be $11bn to $11.4bn and profit will be $2.06 to $2.18 a share, Apple said.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, rose $5.33 to $203.08 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Apple will follow the earnings report by unveiling a tablet computer tomorrow.
Irish Independent
