Apple Punished By Wall Street

Even though profits were up for Cupertino's favorite tech company, iPod shipments fell far short of analyst expectations, and Apple's stock dropped in after-hours trading. With 6.5 million iPods shipping in Apple's last fiscal quarter, far above the two million for the same period last year, Apple's net income quadrupled. The company earned $430 million, or 50 cents a share, on revenues of $3.68 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Apple investors had expected great news from the company, which didn't report its figures until after the market closed at 4 pm ET. Apple stock closed at $51.59 as positive sentiment pushed it up $1.22 for the day. "We're thrilled to have concluded the best year in Apple's history," said Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs in a prepared statement. "We could not be more excited about the new products we're working on for 2006." It would seem his cause for excitement would be shared among Apple's investors. After all, the company moved 1.23 million Mac computers. The company also has an announcement scheduled for October 12th, where Mr. Jobs should unveil a new product to the world. The joy felt by the Mac faithful was not shared by investors. Those iPod shipments were much less than what analysts had predicted, the Journal said. Goldman Sachs thought Apple would move 7.8 million iPods; Merrill Lynch predicted 8.5 million, a figure that might have made people think here