by , 4:45 PM EDT, July 19th, 2006

Apple on Wednesday said that it earned profit of US$472 million, or $0.54 per share, on $4.37 billion in revenue for the previous fiscal quarter. The company also said that it sold 8.1 million iPods and 1.327 million Macs, numbers that were up 32% and 12%, respectively, from the year-ago quarter. The quarter ended July 1 was the third of its 2006 fiscal year.

Apple's revenue and earnings constituted the second highest in its history. In the year-ago quarter, Apple's revenue was $3.52 billion and net profit was $320 million, or $0.37 per share. Gross margins in the past quarter were 30.3%, up from 29.7% in the year-ago quarter. Apple also noted that international sales were 39% of its revenue last quarter.

As of 5:07 PM EST in after-hours trading, Apple's stock was selling for $58.33, up $4.23, or 7.82%. It closed the regular trading day at $54.10, up $1.20, or 2.27%.

"We're thrilled with the growth of our Mac business, and especially that over 75 percent of the Macs sold during the quarter used Intel processors. This is the smoothest and most successful transition that any of us have ever experienced, " said Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a press release. "In addition, iPod continued to earn a US market share of over 75 percent and we are extremely excited about future iPod products in our pipeline."

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said in the same press release that the company expects $4.5 to $4.6 billion in revenue for the current quarter, which will conclude at the end of September. Earnings will be $0.46 to $0.48, which he said will include $0.03 expense from non-cash stock-based compensation.

Apple also used its announcement to address the internal investigation into certain stock option grants between 1997 and 2001, including one made to Mr. Jobs. The company said: "At this time, based upon the irregularities identified to date, management does not anticipate any material adjustment to the financial results included in this earnings release. However, if additional irregularities are identified by the independent investigation, a material adjustment to the financial information could be required." Most analysts expect minimal, if any, financial impact from the investigation.

TMO will be covering the company's 5:00 PM EST earnings call and will provide more color from analysts' and executives' comments.