APPLE PROFIT SURGES 26 PERCENT TO $7.9 BN ON IPHONE BOOM

San Francisco
The Economic Times

Apple Inc said on Tuesday that quarterly profit rose 26 percent, driven by sales of its new iPhone, but it issued a forecast for the current quarter well below Wall Street expectations.

After-hours trading in Apple shares were halted by the Nasdaq prior to the earnings announcement.

Apple reported a profit in its fiscal fourth-quarter ended September 27 of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 a share, up from $904 million, or $1.01 a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 27 percent to $7.9 billion.

Analysts were expecting the company to post a profit of $1.11 a share on revenue of $8.04 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Apple shipped 6.89 million iPhones in the quarter, the first since it released the faster, next-generation model. Mac shipments increased 21 percent from last year to 2.61 million, while iPod shipments rose 8 percent.

For the important holiday quarter ending in December, Apple forecast a profit of between $1.06 a share and $1.35 a share on revenue between $9 billion to $10 billion. The company is famously cautious in its outlook.

Analysts, on average, are expecting earnings of $1.69 on revenue of $10.7 billion in the period, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of Cupertino, Calif-based Apple closed the regular session down $6.95, or 7.06 percent, at $91.49. Prior to the halt in trade, the stock rose to $93.32.