Apple Computer last night forecast current-quarter results below Wall Street expectations after strong holiday sales of its iPod led to a near-doubling in quarterly earnings.
Apple shares fell 3.3 per cent in volatile after-hours trading following the results. Apple's chief financial officer also said the company's then-pending shift to Intel microchips for its Mac computers caused it to lose some holiday-quarter sales.
Apple shares, which had gained almost 15 per cent since the end of 2005 as the market reacted to booming holiday sales of its market-leading music player, briefly gave back about half of those gains late last night in reaction to the company's disappointing current-quarter forecast.
Apple said net income for its first fiscal quarter ended in December rose to $565 million, or 65 cents per share, from $295 million, or 35 cents per share, on a split-adjusted basis. Revenue rose 64 per cent to $5.75 billion from $3.49 billion.
Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company had seen "a bit of a pause" in its sales of Mac computers ahead of its widely watched shift to Intel microprocessors.
Apple said again that it had sold 14 million iPods in the fourth quarter. The company also sold more than 1.25 million Mac computers - fewer than some analysts expected - but it was the highest number of Macs sold in the quarter in six years, Apple said.
Apple shares more than doubled in 2005, after tripling in 2004. In the past 12 months, its shares are up more than 140 per cent, compared with a more than 130 per cent increase in shares of Google.
Apple has sold some 42 million iPods since their introduction in October 2001, and the company has about 75 per cent of the US market for digital music players.
Apple shares fell $2.22, or 2.6 per cent, to close at $82.49 on Nasdaq, on a day when tech stocks were dragged down by disappointing results from Yahoo and Intel on Tuesday.