Apple Computer Inc. said third-quarter profit rose fivefold as sales of iPod digital music players unexpectedly surged to a record and Macintosh computer shipments reached a five-year high.
Net income rose to $320 million, or 37 cents a share, from $61 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, said Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif. Sales climbed 75 percent to $3.52 billion, the company's highest ever. Profit beat analysts' estimates for the seventh straight quarter.
"They've blown away the expectations," Robert O'Donnell, an analyst at researcher IDC, said in an interview from Mountain View, Calif. "It's great news for Apple."
A jump in iPod shipments to 6.16 million, seven times as many as a year ago, allayed concerns that demand for the iPod is waning. Apple, which made its name selling Macintosh computers, is now known for the iPod, whose users range from Bono to the Queen of England. Analysts, speculating the gadgets were losing their cachet, had expected shipments of 5.29 million.
Shares of Apple rose 96 cents to $39.31 in extended trading. They earlier rose 11 cents to $38.35 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has gained 19 percent this year after more than tripling last year.
Apple forecast fourth-quarter sales and profit that would miss analysts' estimates. Sales will be $3.5 billion, less than the $3.58 billion average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, and profit will be 32 cents, below the 33 cent average prediction.
Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told analysts on a conference call he is being "prudent" while awaiting the effect of a decision to use some Intel computer chips in Macs for the first time.
The company last quarter also forecast results that were less than analysts hoped, causing a 14 percent drop in the stock price. The quarter's profit of 38 cents a share before one-time items released Wednesday beat Apple's forecast and the 31-cent average analyst estimate.
Apple sold 1.18 million Macs, the third straight quarter that more than 1 million machines were sold. Mac revenue rose 24 percent to $1.57 billion, driven by record notebook sales, Oppenheimer said. IPod sales rose to $1.1 billion from $249 million.
"Anyone who has bet against them in the past few years is on a fool's errand," Barry Jaruzelski, a technology analyst for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in New York, said before the report. "The iPod has become the de facto standard. Anything but is second best."