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Non-Tech : EARNINGS REPORTING - surprises, misses & more -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (579)	4/19/2001 6:50:22 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 762

Apple Returns To Profitability By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Apple Computer Inc. far exceeded Wall Street's expectations Wednesday, returning to profitability as promised after posting its first quarterly loss in three years. For the three months ended March 31, Apple earned $43 million, or 12 cents a share. Without nonrecurring items, Apple's profit was $40 million, or 11 cents a share. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had projected earnings of just a penny a share. Shares of Apple surged more than 14 percent in after-hours trading, rising to $26.15, after finishing the regular session up $2.39 to $22.79. Apple had earned $233 million, or 64 cents per share, in the second quarter a year ago. Revenues were $1.43 billion this quarter, down 26 percent from the $1.95 billion of the year-ago period. Sluggish sales, increased competition and a glut of inventory led the Cupertino-based computer maker to a loss of $247 million, or 73 cents a share, in the previous quarter, which ended Dec. 30. During its second quarter, Apple slashed prices and introduced a new lineup of products, including faster, more powerful models of its Power Mac G4 and a new titanium PowerBook laptop. ``They had a truly stunning quarter,'' said Andrew Scott, a research associate with Needham & Company Inc. ``Their new titanium laptop and their high-end Power Mac line are selling incredibly well and should continue to drive the company this year.'' Needham was among the more optimistic of Wall Street analysts, predicting Apple would earn at least 6 cents per share for the quarter and possibly reach double digits. ``We're in a challenging economic environment, but given that, we feel good we've returned the company to sustainable profitability,'' Fred Anderson, Apple's chief financial officer, said in an interview. Anderson cited sales of the new PowerBook laptop - 115,000 units were shipped in the quarter - as a huge boost to revenues. The company also introduced its new Mac OS X (news - web sites) operating system on March 24, garnering $19 million in sales in one week, the company said in a conference call to analysts. The company will begin bundling the new operating system with its computers in July. The company said it expects to make $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion in revenues in the second half of the fiscal year, for a yearly revenue estimate of $5.6 billion to $5.8 billion, which is down from the company's earlier downgraded projections of $6 billion to $6.5 billion. ``Given the current economic environment, we wanted to be very conservative,'' Anderson told analysts. Anderson said that although sales in Europe continue to do well, the company is starting to see ``some early signs of softening'' there as it lagged behind the United States, where shrinking demand has pummeled many PC makers. ``We certainly haven't seen a significant turnaround for the PC industry,'' said Steve Kleynhans, an industry analyst with Meta Group. ``We haven't seen it for other PC makers and I don't think Apple's immune to it.'' -