Things certainly are sunny in Cupertino about now...
Apple Reports Record 1Q ProfitSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Apple Inc. on Wednesday posted a record profit in its fiscal first quarter, beating Wall estimates as earnings rose 78 percent amid strong holiday sales of its iPod music players and Macintosh computers.
During the final three months of 2006, the Cupertino-based company Apple said it earned $1 billion, or $1.14 per share, compared to $565 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue for the quarter hit a record, reaching $7.1 billion, up 24 percent from $5.7 billion the previous year.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 78 cents per share on sales of $6.42 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.
"This one was for the record books," Apple's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said in an interview.
Apple shipped 1.6 million Macs and more than 21 million iPods during the quarter, representing a growth of 28 percent and 50 percent respectively from the year-ago holiday season.
Astounding. The rumor was they spanked the street... But they just smashed expectations. The big number here -well, there are several- but the biggest number is the 28% increase in Mac sales over last year. That's where the profit comes from.
Add to that that this was the second keynote where jobs mentioned that over half of all Mac sold where sold to people who had never owned a Mac. The "Halo Effect" of the iPod is no longer up for debate.
