Business as Usual: Apple Crushes Earnings on iPhone Sales, Shares Hit Record High

Apple AAPL shares soared to a new all-time high Tuesday on news that the company posted a record quarterly net profit of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per diluted share, on sales of its popular iPhone. Apple announced its fiscal 2011 third quarter revenue came in at $28.57 billion, another record. Notably, the company sold over 20 million iPhones in the quarter, a 142% growth over last year's quarter. “We're thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. “Right now, we're very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.” Apple sold over 9 million iPads during the third period, a 183% quarter-over-quarter increase. The company has jumped to an early lead in the tablet race, as it has already started selling its second iteration of a tablet, the iPad 2. Shares of Apple briefly hit an all-time high of $405 a share, before retreating back below $400. The company's market capitalization stands above $340 billion. “We are extremely pleased with our performance which drove quarterly cash flow from operations of $11.1 billion, an increase of 131 percent year-over-year,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. In an interview with Reuters, YCMNET Advisors Chief Executive Michael Yoshikami was astonished. "They never cease to amaze me, these guys. The numbers are obviously very strong and they seem to be accelerating earnings on all fronts."