Apple profit beats expectations, shares jump

By Gabriel Madway

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's quarterly profit beat expectations on strong iPod and Mac computer sales, and the company gave an outlook that cheered investors, sending its shares up 9.5 percent on Wednesday.

The results cap a tumultuous few weeks for Apple, which is facing increased headwinds from slumping consumer spending, as well as investor concerns about management succession after Chief Executive Steve Jobs said he would take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

"I'd say in the face of one of the worst holidays in recent memory, Apple was able to pull a rabbit out of the hat," said Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher.

"It's amazing that Apple was able to record its best revenue and earnings in an environment like this."

Apple said its net profit in the fiscal first quarter ended December 27 rose to $1.61 billion, or $1.78 a share, from $1.58 billion, or $1.76 a share, a year ago. Analysts were expecting a per-share profit of $1.40, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 5.8 percent to $10.2 billion, beating the $9.74 billion average Wall Street estimate.

Apple said visibility remains low, although Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said on a conference call that while the economy is in bad shape, it's not as "unpredictable" as it was in October.

The company, known for conservative forecasts, estimated a profit for the March quarter of 90 cents to $1.00 a share, on revenue of $7.6 billion to $8 billion. That wasn't far off from the average analyst forecast for earnings of $1.12 per share and revenue of $8.1 billion.

"This management team has always been conservative in the way it's guided," said Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner. "In that context, the first-quarter forecasts are quite encouraging."

COMPONENT PRICES

Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said lower component prices, such as for processors, memory chips and panels, were helping Apple. "Pricing on those products has come down a lot and that enables Apple to maintain their margins even though they are selling a lower-end mix," he said.

Apple's gross margin was 34.7 percent in its December quarter, flat with the year-ago period. It expects margins to be about 30 percent in the second half of the fiscal year.

The December quarter is traditionally Apple's strongest, fueled by holiday season sales. IPod sales rose 3 percent from a year earlier to 22.7 million units, well ahead of the 18.5 million expected by analysts. Mac computer sales rose 9 percent to 2.52 million units, in line with expectations.

Notebook sales climbed 34 percent on a unit basis, while desktop sales fell 25 percent, reflecting the broader market shift to portable computers, Apple said. Mac sales rose 16 percent internationally and 2 percent in the United States.

Apple is one of the few PC makers without a netbook offering. Cook called the small, inexpensive computers "inferior" but said Apple is watching the segment.