Apple profit beats expectations

By Gabriel Madway

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple's (AAPL.O) quarterly profit soared past Wall Street expectations on strong sales of iPhones and iPods, underscoring the popularity of the company's relatively expensive products even in the midst of a weak economy.

Known for giving conservative outlooks, Apple projected profit and revenue for the current quarter below average Wall Street estimates, but that did not discourage investors, who drove its shares up 3 percent after-hours on Wednesday.

"As the world economy began to spiral the big question on investors' minds was if the Apple brand was going to be resilient or particularly susceptible," said Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner. "I think that what these results show is that Apple and this brand are relatively resilient."

In the first quarter since Chief Executive Steve Jobs went on medical leave, net profit rose to $1.21 billion (835.6 million pounds), or $1.33 a share, compared to $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year ago. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.09 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 8.7 percent to $8.16 billion in the fiscal second quarter ended March 28, beating the average Street forecast of $7.96 billion.

"I think in a better economy our sales certainly would have been higher but ... we have just reported the best non-holiday quarter in Apple's history despite the economy that we find ourselves in," Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told Reuters in a telephone interview.

When asked about Jobs on a conference call, he said, "We look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June."

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