The following is an excerpt from: Suzane McGee | January 25, 2012 | TheFiscalTimes.com |
Can Apple (AAPL) thrive without Steve Jobs at its helm? Months after the legendary founder of Apple succumbed to cancer, the resounding reply to that question appears to be in the affirmative. Indeed, after recording a rare earnings “miss” in the third quarter of last year, Apple blew analysts’ forecasts out of the water late yesterday when it reported a blockbuster fourth quarter, the best on record for both sales and revenues. Indeed, total revenue soared 73 percent from year-earlier levels, meaning that the company booked more in sales in that fourth quarter than it had in the other nine months of 2011.
It’s all about smartphones – and despite competition from rival manufacturers, Apple’s iPhone continues to dominate the market. So great is demand that consumers are having to wait, the company’s chief financial officer told analysts on a conference call late yesterday afternoon.
Related: The Apple Economy
The news almost instantly added $37.2 billion in value to Apple’s market capitalization, as the company’s stock price soared about $40 a share in aftermarket trading, reversing a day in which it had significantly lagged broad market indicators. (If the shares open Wednesday at anywhere near the price of $451 a share that prevailed in after-hours trading, that’s going to make…
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