Apple sales and profit bring all-time shares high

Oct 21 2009 by Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post

Shares in Apple hit an all-time high after the technology giant delivered sales and profit figures well ahead of Wall Street forecasts.

The California-based company earned £1 billion in the three months to September 26, an increase of 47 per cent after sales jumped 25 per cent to £6.1 billion.

Apple has weathered the economic storm better than many other rivals, giving it an edge when PC sales grew in the quarter. It sold 3.1 million Macs, 19 per cent up on the same period a year ago, after it updated its operating system and refreshed its MacBook Pro line.

With the company unveiling a faster iPhone in June and cutting the price of the previous generation of the product, iPhone sales rose to 7.4 million, half a million more than in the same period of 2008. The regular iPod music player sales have suffered due to the iPhone, which has iPod features built in.

Shares in the company rose five per cent to $198.