Apple Inc. reported on Wednesday a 78 percent surge in quarterly profit, boosted by strong holiday sales of iPod digital music players and brisk sales of its MacBook laptops.
Apple said net income for its first fiscal quarter ended December 30 rose to $1.004 billion, or $1.14 per share, from $565 million, or 65 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $7.12 billion from $5.75 billion.
Analysts had expected Apple to post net income of 77 cents per share, on average, on revenue of $6.43 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. The results compared with Apple’s own earlier forecast of earnings per share of 70 cents to 73 cents and revenue of $6.0 billion to $6.2 billion.
Apple is coming off its annual Macworld conference, where it generated more buzz than usual this year when Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled a much-anticipated multimedia device called the iPhone, which goes on sale for $500 to $600 in June.
Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple rose 18 percent in 2006, after more than doubling in 2005 and tripling in 2004, propelled by strong sales of its lineup of iPods and a rejuvenated line of Macintosh desktop and notebook computers.
