Apple said it sold a record 8.8 million of its popular iPhone smart phones in the three months that ended March 27, more than double the number sold a year ago. Revenue from the phones made up 40 percent of Apple’s total revenue. The previous high was 8.7 million phones sold in the October-December quarter last year.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster was astounded by the iPhone results. He said such ongoing growth is unheard of for a successful three-year-old device. “It’s defying the law of gravity,” Munster said. “Internationally, it’s catching fire.”
Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said in an interview that strong sales came from both existing and new mobile carriers. Although AT&T Inc. remains the exclusive US carrier, Apple has been selling phones through multiple carriers in other countries.
After a brief trading halt, investors sent Apple’s stock bounding up $13.71, or 5.6 percent, to $258.30 in after-hours trading Tuesday, surpassing its previous high of $251.14, which had been set Friday. Earlier Tuesday, the stock had shed $2.48 to close at $244.59.
Apple’s net income and revenue were its highest ever in a non-holiday quarter, Oppenheimer said. Earnings rose to $3.1 billion, or $3.33 per share, from $1.6 billion, or $1.79 per share in the same period last year. Revenue rose 49 percent to $13.5 billion from $9.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
