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Associated Press Online - January 13, 1999 17:13
By WILLIAM SCHIFFMANN
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Apple Computer Inc., buoyed by sales of its hot new iMac computer, on Wednesday reported its quarterly profit more than tripled, easily beating Wall Street forecasts.
It was Apple's fifth straight money-making quarter, confirming expectations set last week by interim chief executive Steve Jobs and suggesting a further rebound from two years of red ink at the personal computer pioneer.
Apple said it earned $152 million, or 95 cents a share on a diluted basis, in the three months ended Dec. 26, 1998. That was up from a profit of $47 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time charges, the company would have earned earned 78 cents a diluted share in the recent quarter, surpassing the 70 cents forecast by Wall Street analysts surveyed by First Call.
Revenues grew 8 percent to $1.71 billion from $1.58 billion. The company sold 519,000 of the colorful iMac computers since they went on sale last August. The new brand became the top-selling desktop machine sold at retail in the November.
Jobs said in a statement that Apple's stock of unsold computers was a healthy two days, better than Dell Computer's industry-leading seven days of inventory.
Apple's sales in foreign countries accounted for 47 percent of the revenues.
The iMac, an unusual-looking translucent desktop computer, is now sold in a rainbow of five colors, making them stand out sharply on store shelves against traditional beige home PCs.
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