Associated Press | Blockbuster iPhone sales helped Apple Inc.
blow past Wall Street’s expectations with a 90 percent leap in net
income for the most recent quarter. Shares skyrocketed in extended
trading Tuesday. Apple said it sold nearly 9 million of its popular
iPhone smart phones in the three months that ended March 27, more than
double sales from a year ago.

After a brief trading halt, investors sent Apple’s stock bounding up
$17.31, or 7.1 percent, to $261.90 in after-hours trading. Earlier, the
stock had shed $2.48 to close at $244.59.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, said in an interview that Apple sold more iPhones than in any previous quarter, with strong sales coming from both existing and new mobile carriers. Although AT&T Inc. remains the exclusive U.S. carrier, Apple has been selling phones through multiple carriers in other countries.

Apple’s net income and revenue were its highest ever, Oppenheimer said. Earnings rose to $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per share, from $1.62 billion, or $1.79 per share in the same period last year.

Revenue rose 49 percent to $13.5 billion from $9.08 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts had expected Apple to earn $2.45 per share on $12.04 billion in revenue, according to a survey from Thomson Reuters.

The company said it sold almost 3 million Macs, a 33 percent increase. IPod unit sales edged down 1 percent — but Apple still sold 10 million of the digital players.