Apple's net income, which equates to 65 cents per diluted share, was up 91 percent from the $295 million it reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and up 31 percent from the 430 million in net income the company posted for the previous quarter, the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005.

Apple's record $5.75 billion quarterly profit, which was tipped by CEO Steve Jobs during Macworld 2006 last week, was up 65 percent from the $3.49 billion the company reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and up 56 percent from the $3.68 billion the company reported for the fourth quarter of 2005.

Apple said gross margin was 27.2 percent, down from 28.5 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter¡¯s revenue, the company said.

Apple said it shipped 1.2 million Macintosh computers and 14 million iPods during the quarter, representing 20 percent growth in Macs and 207 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.

¡°We are thrilled to report the best quarter in Apple¡¯s history,¡± Jobs said Wednesday through a statement.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company expects to report fiscal second quarter revenue of approximately $4.3 billion on revenue of roughly 38 cents per share based on generally accepted accounting principles.

Apple made a big splash last week by not only tipping the record revenue and number of iPods sold during the quarter, but also by announcing that the company would begin shipping Macintosh computers based on Intel's Core Duo dual-core processor six months ahead of schedule.

The company's stock reaped the benefit of the positive news last week, closing at $83.90 Jan. 11, which the Associated Press reported was a split-adjusted all time high for Apple. The stock closed down $2.22 at $82.49 Wednesday, ahead of the earnings report.

By: DocMemory
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