Apple Inc posted a higher quarterly profit that zoomed past expectations on strong Macintosh sales and said it expected to sell one million iPhones by the end of the current quarter.
It also reported a surprising rise in its profit margin from the previous quarter because of less expensive components and strong direct sales.
Shares of Apple, up 62 per cent since the start of the year when Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, rose by a further 6.5 per cent after the report.
Apple's net income for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30th was $818 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with $472 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue was $5.41 billion, up 24 per cent from $4.37 billion a year earlier.
Gross profit margin was 36.9 per cent, up from the 35.1 per cent the company achieved in the previous quarter, a show of strength that the company had not predicted.
Apple said it shipped 1.76 million Macintosh computers in the quarter, a rise of 33 per cent from a year earlier.
Shipments of iPods were 9.82 million, up 21 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
The iPhone went on sale on June 29th but its impact on Apple's results was limited because it was available only in the last two days of the quarter and sales will be booked as subscription revenue over two years.
It sold 270,000 iPhones in the two days.