Apple Surprises Wall Street, Posts Significant Quarterly Profit

Citing strong sales of OS X and the company's Titanium notebook during the quarter ending March 31, and aided by its reduction of unsold computer inventory, Apple posted earnings of $40 million (11 cents per diluted share), excluding nonrecurring items. Analysts polled had expected about a 1 cent-per-share profit, although estimates dipped as low as an 8-cents-per-share loss. Apple also announced that is was cutting its sales forecast for the year, blaming the economy, but that didn't adversely affect its stock: news of Apple's profitability caused a sharp spike in its stock price, as share values leapt to a six-month high in after-hours trading.