The company everyone loves to hate has done it again, this time posting a third quarter net profit of $61 million dollars, more than triple their profit at the same time last year. Apple Computer’s stock soared as much as 13% Thursday as the company announced increased demand for both its iPod and Computer products. Revenue for the quarter was $2.014 billion, up 30% from last year.

3rd quarter Macintosh shipments jumped 19% based on strong growth in Europe, while iPod sales soared more than 160% over the same quarter last year.

“It was an outstanding quarter-our highest third quarter revenue in eight years,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our Mac-based revenue grew a healthy 19 percent, and our music-based revenue grew an incredible 162 percent. We’ve got a strong product portfolio, with some amazing new additions coming later this year.”

“We were very pleased with our 30 percent year-over-year revenue growth and our operating margin expansion,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, we expect revenue of about $2.1 billion and earnings per diluted share of $0.16 to $0.17, including $0.01 per diluted share in restructuring charges.”






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