Apple Shares Go Up On Company’s Record Earnings

Apple reported record earnings and revenue for the third quarter, helped by the success of Mac OS X Tiger and impressive iPod sales.

Naturally shares of Apple shot up after the company released its financial results yesterday. Today, Apple shares climbed 9.5% according to Reuters.

“We are delighted to report Apple’s best quarter ever in both revenue and earnings,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “The launch of Mac OS X Tiger has been a tremendous success, and we have more amazing new products in the pipeline.”

The iPod music player is also a big player in the company’s financial performance. Apple shipped 6,155,000 iPods during the quarter, representing a growth of 616% from the same quarter the previous year. MarketWatch reports:

Chief Executive Steve Jobs has transformed Apple from a niche player in the PC market to the dominant supplier of digital music. The iPod controls 75% of the market for portable digital music players, according to the latest figures from research firm NPD.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told analysts on a conference call that the company’s iTunes web site controls 80% of the market for legally-downloaded music.

Shipments of Macintosh units also grew by 35% from the same quarter of the previous year. Apple shipped 1,182,000 Macs in the third quarter alone.

Apple posted a net quarterly profit of $320 million and revenue of $3.52 billion, compared to a net profit of $61 million and revenue of $2.01 billion for the same quarter last year.

“We’re very pleased to report 75 percent revenue growth and a 425 percent increase in net income,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, we expect revenue of about $3.5 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.32.”

Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.