Shares of Apple Inc. took a turn for the better in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the company, bruised by the iPhone 4 “antennagate” debacle, reported solid quarterly earnings.
Buoyed by the freshly minted iPad and latest iPhone, Apple said it posted record sales of $15.7 billion and net profit of $3.25 billion in its fiscal third quarter ended June 26. That compares to $9.7 billion in revenue and $1.83 billion in profit in the year-ago period.
Apple’s stock was up almost 3 percent to $259.22 by about 5 p.m. Eastern. The company said it sold 8.4 million iPhones, representing 61 percent unit growth over 2009’s third quarter. Apple also sold 3.47 million Macs, a new three-month record; 9.41 million iPods, marking an 8 percent decline; and 3.27 million iPads.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics maker further generated more than $4 billion in cash during the quarter and predicts around $18 billion in fourth-quarter revenue.
Apple declared its latest earnings less than a week after finally holding a Steve Jobs-led press conference to brush off reports about the iPhone 4 antenna dropping signals. Jobs said the reports have been blown out of proportion but still offered free bumper cases to iPhone 4 owners.
