Apple Inc. shares jump after company stuns investors with record quarter

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Apple Inc. left Wall Street expectations in the dust on Tuesday, announcing that quarterly revenues had shot up nearly 48%, to $13.5 billion, over the same period a year earlier, and that its earnings per share were $3.33 -- more than 35% higher than analysts had expected.

Apple’s shares, which had dropped slightly during regular trading, shot up nearly 7% after hours, or almost $17 a share, to $261.30.

‘We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever,’ said Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs in a statement.

The company said sales of most of its consumer electronics products had seen significant increases, including 8.8 million iPhones sold -- a 130% jump from a year ago -- and nearly 3 million of its Mac computers -- a 33% increase.

The new iPad tablet computer, which the company said sold 450,000 units its first week, went on sale after the reported quarter ended.

Apple’s performance beat analysts’ expectations across the board. Those surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected Apple to report only $12 billion in revenue -- undershooting the actual number by 13%. Their consensus estimate of $2.25 billion for Apple’s profit was also low by 36% as the actual number was $3.07 billion.

-- David Sarno