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Apple earnings jump on Mac sales

Apple delights investors with a blowout quarter, surpassing Wall Street expectations for both revenue and earnings on the strength of a 51 percent jump in Mac sales.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

Apple erased any assumptions on Wednesday that a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending is negatively affecting its bottom line.

The company reported revenue of $7.5 billion and net income of $1.1 billion for its second fiscal quarter (PDF), which ended March 29. The net income translates to earnings per share of $1.16, and both the revenue and earnings per share blew away Wall Street expectations of $6.9 billion in revenue and earnings per share of $1.07.

As has been the case the last several quarters, the Mac led the charge for Apple. Mac shipments were up 51 percent, compared to the same period last year, at 2.3 million units, and revenue from Macs increased by 54 percent.

Apple quarterly numbers
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iPod growth was slow, as expected, with just 1 percent unit growth and 8 percent revenue growth, on shipments of 10.6 million units. And Apple sold 1.7 million iPhones during the quarter, an increase from its first-quarter iPhone shipments of 1.1 million units.

The company provided its typical conservative guidance, looking forward into its third quarter, with earnings per share predicted to be $1. Analysts had been expecting $1.10, but Apple almost always guides lower than the prevailing wisdom. Revenue is predicted to be $7.2 billion, which is actually in line with the financial community's expectations.

Stay tuned for a live blog of Apple's conference call, which starts at 2 p.m. PT.