Oct 27, 2009 (Zacks.com via COMTEX News Network) -- Apple, Inc. (AAPL) reported strong third-quarter results on Oct 20 that were better than expected, driven by the second highest quarterly revenue in the company's history.
Company Description
Apple, Inc. develops and manufactures personal computers and portable digital devices. The company was founded in 1976 and has a market cap of $182 billion.
Sales were up 25% from last year to $9.87 billion. Earnings also came in strong at $1.82 per share, easily outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43.
The company noted that its higher sales came from the iPhone and increased Mac shipments. Apple also added that it continues to see higher market share in 3 key areas, computers, music players and smart phones. The company's balance sheet also looks strong with cash and equivalents growing to $34 billion during the quarter.
Estimates Jump
Estimates jumped higher after the good quarter, with the current year adding 55 cents and moving to $7.60 per share. The next-year estimate is pegged at $9.39, a 24% growth projection.
Valuation
Based on the current-year estimate, this stock has a P/E multiple of 26.5X, a premium to the overall market.
The Chart
Shares of AAPL have been riding a very smooth trend higher for the last 6 months, recently gapping higher and hitting a new 52-week high on the positive earnings surprise. Take a look below.
Zacks #1 Ranked Stocks have generated an average annual return of 31.8% since 1988. Every day we highlight four new Zacks Rank Buy stocks on the Zacks.com home page. Discover the Four Stocks we are Recommending Now!
Michael Vodicka
Copyright (C) 2009, Zacks Investment Research.
