Apple Inc. has announced that, in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 31, its profits increased by 50% from a year earlier, the highest ever recorded for the company.
The profits were equal to US$3.4 billion, or $3.67 per share. Analysts polled by the Thomson Reuters, however, forecast earnings of $2.08 a share.
Apple sales, meanwhile, increased by 32% to a record $15.7 billion from $11.9 billion the year before, above the $12.1 billion predicted by economists. This is the second consecutive quarter in which Apple has made record revenue. According to PC Magazine, of the revenue, $5.8 billion was in cash.
For this quarter, Apple has forecast its revenue to be somewhere between $11 billion and $11.4 billion, or earnings of $2.06 to $2.18 per share.
Before the results were announced, Apple shares rose $5.33, or 2.7%, to close at $203.08 at the New York stock market, whilst in extended trading the shares went up an additional $1.28, reaching $204.36. 
Steve Jobs, the Apple CEO, commented in a statement that "if you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company. The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."
Daniel Ernst, with Hudson Square Research, remarked that "it was a very good quarter, as expected. It's a continued sign that Apple has great products that consumers want despite this recession. Mac sales were phenomenal as well [...] Macs continue to gain share and what's interesting is that it only has 3.6% share globally so there's a lot of headroom." 

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Apple, Inc. has record quarter profits