Apple Computer has posted a quarterly profit that surpassed Wall Street forecasts amid soaring sales of its iPod digital music players and the highest number of Macintosh computers sold in more than four years.
Shares of Apple, which issued a forecast for the current quarter that was above consensus analyst expectations, jumped 13 per cent in after-hours trading.
Apple said net income for the fourth quarter nearly quintupled to $295 million, or 70 cents a share, from $63 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago.
Shares of Apple, which on Tuesday unveiled a smaller, cheaper iPod that starts at $99 and a slim Mac without a display starting at $499, more than tripled last year.
Apple chief financial officer Mr Peter Oppenheimer said the company sold 337,000 of its all-in-one iMac G5 computers in the quarter. Revenue rose 74 per cent to $3.49 billion from $2.01 billion. Analysts had forecast revenue of $3.14 billion.
Apple said it shipped 4.58 million iPods in the fourth quarter of 2004, generating $1.21 billion in revenue.