Apple earnings exceed analyst expectations

"We are thrilled to report our highest fourth quarter revenue in nine years,"

said Steve Jobs. "We shipped over 2 million iPods, our Retail store revenue grew 95 percent year-over-year, and the new iMac G5 has received phenomenal reviews and is off to a great start."

"We're pleased to report 37 percent revenue growth for the quarter and operating margin above 5 percent," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2005, we expect revenue of between
$2.8 and $2.9 billion, operating margin above 7 percent and earnings per diluted share of $.39 to $.42."

As usual, Apple has posted the earnings conference call in Quicktime format on their site.
Have a listen.

AAPL closed up 1.46 today, at 39.75.