Shares in European suppliers of Apple Inc
leapt on Wednesday after the technology giant announced the largest profit in
the history of the firm, spurred mainly by record sales of iPhones and strong demand
in China.
Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 27, compared with a forecast of fewer than 70 million. Revenue grew to $74.6 billion (49 billion pounds) from $57.6 billion a year earlier. Profit of $18 billion was the biggest ever reported by a public company, worldwide, according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt.
Overnight, shares in British chip designer ARM and Imagination Technologies, which supplies graphics processing to the U.S. group, rose between 3 and 4 percent at the open as investors cheered the news. Traders said investors should look to buy into the stock on one of the days when it slips, as ARM has the highest price to earnings valuation amongst its peers.
"You have to be a buyer of ARM on the dip. It not only provides Apple with chips but also Samsung, and they get all the royalties," said Beaufort Securities sales trader Basil Petrides.
German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor, which counts Apple as one of its customers, rose 1.5 percent by 0819 GMT. Dialog creates chips that manage power consumption of consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablet computers. Apple and Samsung Electronics are among its main customers and its shares are up almost a fifth this year.
