Topic: Blue Chip Stocks

Large cap stocks: Apple earnings surge on iPhone, iPad demand

Apple Inc. (symbol AAPL on Nasdaq) makes computers and a variety of other electronic devices. Portable devices, such as the iPod music player, the iPhone smartphone and the iPad tablet computer, dominate Apple’s overall sales. Users of these products also buy music, movie and video-game downloads at Apple’s iTunes online store.

Apple is one of the large cap stocks we analyze in our Wall Street Stock Forecaster newsletter.

In its fiscal 2011 first quarter, which ended December 25, 2010, Apple sales rose 70.5%, to $26.7 billion from $15.7 billion a year earlier. Earnings jumped 77.7%, to $6.0 billion, or $6.43 a share. A year earlier, the company earned $3.4 billion, or $3.67 a share.

Apple continues to see strong demand for its iPhone smartphone and iPad tablet computer. In the latest quarter, Apple sold 16.2 million iPhones, up 85.8% from a year earlier. It also sold 7.3 million iPads.

Apple sold 4.1 million Mac computers in the latest quarter, up 23.0% from a year earlier. Three quarters of those Macs were laptops. Sales of iPod music players fell 7.3%. However, that’s mainly because many iPod users are upgrading to the iPhone, which also plays music and videos.

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