SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc.'s quarterly
net income more than tripled, fueled by surging sales of its
iPod digital music players as shipments of its signature
Macintosh computers rose 14 percent, it said on Wednesday.
Shares of Apple, which also reported a strong performance
by its 80 retail stores, rose almost 7 percent in after-hours
trade on the news.
Apple gave a forecast for its current quarter that was
largely in line with consensus Wall Street estimates, a
relatively strong outlook given that many analysts had not yet
factored in the delay of the next-generation iMac personal
computer, disclosed earlier this month.
"Obviously, this quarter was solid," said Shannon Cross, an
analyst at Cross Research. "Ipod sales were a bit above what I
was expecting."
For its third quarter ended June 26, Cupertino,
California-based Apple said it had net income of $61 million,
or 16 cents per share, up from $19 million, or 5 cents per
share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 30 percent to $2.01
billion from $1.55 billion.
DEMAND LOOKS GOOD
"In the markets we're participating in, demand looks good
for us," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer,
said in an interview.
Excluding restructuring charges, Apple said it had a profit
of $67 million, or 17 cents per share.
On that basis, analysts polled by Reuters Estimates had
forecast Apple to earn, on average, 15 cents per share, within
a range of 13 cents to 16 cents. Revenue had been forecast at
$1.94 billion.
