Apple on Wednesday posted its highest quarterly revenue and net income in the company’s history thanks to strong holiday sales of iPods. Apple greatly exceeded Wall Street expectations with a net profit of $295 million, or 70 cents a share, for its fiscal 2005 first quarter ended December 25, 2004. Revenue for the quarter was $3.49 billion, up 74 percent from $2 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Along with its record earnings, Apple released several iPod and music sales details. The company reported that it sold more than 4,580,000 iPods during the quarter, representing a 525 percent increase in iPod units compared to this time last year. All iPod models brought in more than $1.2 billion in revenue for Apple during the quarter. Apple’s music division, which includes the iTunes Music Store, iPod services and accessories, accounted for $177 million of the first-quarter’s revenue, a 277 percent increase year-over-year.
Apparently in response to the release of these financial results, Apple’s stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) is up an impressive 11.82% to 73.20 in after-hours trading.
