Apple earnings surge as it beats Wall Street forecasts

Apple (AAPL) posted strong fourth-quarter earnings, topping Wall Street estimates and forecasting healthy gains for early 2018.

The world's most valuable company on Thursday reported net income for its latest quarter of $10.7 billion and earnings per share of $2.07. Revenue for the period was $52.6 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago. Apple said it expects revenue of $84 billion to $87 billion for the first three months of 2018, which would be a record quarterly sales and indicate healthy consumer demand for its latest iPhone lineup. Consensus estimates from Zacks' showed analysts expected earnings of $1.87 per share and revenues of $51.17 billion.

The company said iPhone sales rose 3 percent in the July-September quarter, a period that saw the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus come out in the final weeks. Sales could have been higher if many customers hadn't been waiting for the iPhone X, which comes out Friday. 

"We're happy to report a very strong finish to a great fiscal 2017, with record fourth quarter revenue, year-over-year growth for all our product categories, and our best quarter ever for services," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. 

Apple's stock, which has risen 45 percent this year, closed at $168.24.

Apple shipped 46.7 million iPhones during the period, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That's up from 45.5 million at the same time last year after the iPhone 7 came out, but represents a step back from the same time in 2015, when Apple shipped 48 million iPhones during the quarter. As with recent quarters, one of the main sources of Apple's growth is coming from its services, which are anchored by an app store that feeds the iPhone and other devices.

Last week, Apple indicated the new iPhones were flying off the shelves. "We can see from the initial response, customer demand is off the charts," an Apple spokeswoman told CNET. Half an hour after Apple opened pre-ordering for its newest iPhone, all models from U.S. carriers had shipping times of four to five weeks, meaning the devices will most likely reach consumers in December. Only consumers who pre-ordered within the first 10 minutes of the pre-order window, which began at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on Friday, secured shipping dates of Nov. 3, when the device will appear in stores, according to CNET.

The device sold out quickly when pre-ordering opened in Hong Kong and the U.K., Bloomberg reported. Customers in Britain were told they would have to wait as long as six weeks for availability. 

Making the iPhone X is proving to be a challenge because it boasts a color-popping OLED screen, which isn't as readily available as standard LCD displays in other iPhone models. The new iPhone also requires more sophisticated components to power the facial-recognition technology for unlocking the device.