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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: insider who wrote (7688)	1/14/1998 7:42:00 PM
From: Perry	Respond to of 213173

January 14, 1998 APPLE DELIVERS FIRST PROFIT IN FIVE QUARTERS ÿ DAILY SCREEN Regis Corp.: Shear Energy FUND NEWS The Two Apostles SECTOR TRACKING Semi- conductors: The Best Companies for 1998 CONSUMER ACTION Roth IRAs: You Wanted to Know STOCK UPDATE Mattel: Toy Story SMI POLL And the Winner Is... MARKET INSIDER Tomorrow's Market Tonight: Hoping For a Rally Anybody Else Want to Go All Cash? Michael Murphy's Tech Stock Shopping List The Highest- Yielding Money Funds HMO Stocks: Off the Critical List? Kurlak's Cloudy Crystal Ball SmartMoney Gainers and Losers SMI Earnings Calendar ARCHIVE Complete Five-Day View NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Troubled Apple Computer Inc. announced Wednesday that it posted a fiscal first-quarter profit, delivering on a recent prediction that it would return to the black for the first time in the last five quarters. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker, which benefited from a sharp reduction in expenses, cited the launch of its Power Macintosh G3 Computers line and the improvement of its gross margins from 19% to 22% as prime reasons for its return to profitability. The company earned $47 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, in the quarter ended Dec. 26 after a loss of $120 million, or 96 cents a diluted share, a year ago. The results were roughly in line with the mean analyst estimate for earnings of 35 cents a share. Interim CEO Steve Jobs, who made the surprise profit projection at the close of the Macworld Expo trade show in San Francisco last week, said Wednesday that "the December quarter results reflect the benefits of the disciplined focus that Apple has undertaken in recent months." He added, "We've concentrated on providing the powerful products our customers want at competitive prices, and we continue to streamline our business and work with industry partners to facilitate this focus." Indeed, Apple cut its operating expenses 40% to $313 million from $521 million a year ago to record its first quarterly profit since September 1996, despite a 26% drop in revenue to $1.58 billion from $2.1 billion a year ago. International sales accounted for 50% of the revenue. According to The Wall Street Journal, revenue in the amount reported by Apple would make it a $6.4-billion-a-year company, nearly half the size it was when it entered its long fall in 1995. The profitable results were buoyed by the successful introduction of the Power Macintosh G3 computers on Nov. 10. Over 133,000 units of the G3 systems shipped during the quarter, which the company termed the most successful product launch in its history. Still, its likley that analysts won't be ready to declare the end of Apple's troubles, but should be encouraged by the company's ability to streamline operations to achieve profitability. "It's a big psychological hurdle for them to get over," Louis Mazzucchelli, an analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison, said last week after Jobs made the surprise profit announcement last week. "I'm feeling very good about the year after a solid first quarter." The quarter serves as the first full report card for the regime of Jobs, who in August took control of the company he founded after the board forced Chairman and CEO Gilbert F. Amelio to resign. Jobs has steadfastly insisted he doesn't want to become permanent CEO.