Apple 3rd-Qtr Profit Rises 48 Percent on Mac Sales

Bloomberg.com reports that "Apple (AAPL) said third- quarter profit rose 48 percent after the company sold more Macintosh computers than analysts expected. Net income increased to $472 million, or 54 cents a share, from $320 million, or 37 cents, a year earlier, Cupertino, California-based Apple said today in a statement. Sales climbed 24 percent to $4.37 billion."

Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray said, "The key was the Mac number and it was better than expected. Macs are gaining share, iPods are stable and the guidance is conservative, but they're always conservative. It looks like they've gotten through a tough transition."

According to the article, "Apple shipped 8.11 million iPods in the third quarter, a 32 percent gain from a year earlier. Sales have slowed since a record 14 million units during the 2005 holidays."

UBS AG's Benjamin Reitzes noted that "every 75,000 Macs sold translates into $100 million in revenue, while every 500,000 iPods equals $100 million in sales. It's likely demand for the new Intel Mac will offset possible shortfalls in iPod shipments this year as customers hold off buying until new players are released."

American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said, "There's resilience in the iPod franchise and the Mac business is showing signs of growth."