Apple's impressive fourth quarter results, announced late on Monday night, were rewarded by the markets yesterday as Apple's stock once again reached historic highs.

Apple shares traded as high as $188.60 (€132.40) giving the consumer electronics maker a larger market capitalisation than technology giants Intel and IBM, as well as its closest rivals in the PC market Hewlett Packard and Dell. Apple's share price yesterday valued it at $162 billion compared to IBM at $155 billion.

The iPod maker reported fourth quarter revenues of $6.22 billion and earnings of $1.01 per share, well ahead of its own target of 65 cents a share and also the analysts' average estimate of 86 cents.

Apple traditionally is cautious in its financial guidance which some commentators have said ensures it beats its own estimates. By Apple standards Peter Oppenheimer, the company's chief financial officer, was bullish in his predictions for the next quarter, when he said the company expects "revenue of about $9.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.42." "We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive.