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Apple has announced a record second quarter fiscal results, posting a revenue of $5.26 billion, compared to $4.36 billion in 2006, and net quarterly profit of $770 million, compared to $410 million a year earlier. According to Peter Oppenheimer, Apple CFO “We are very pleased to report the most profitable March quarter in Apple’s history”. Apple shipped 1,517,000 Macs and 10,549,00 iPods in the quarter, representing 36% growth in Mac sales and 24% growth in iPod sales over the same quarter last year.

Due to the blow away quarter Apple’s stock price rose above $100 a share in after hours trading and trading at $102 up from $95.35 at closing, a 7% surge over its official closing price. This is the first time in Apple’s history that the stock has breached the $100 mark, a ten fold increase from its share price of around $10 in Jan 2004.

This reminds me once again of the statement Michael Dell made on Oct 6, 1997 when he was asked what he would do if he owned the then troubled Apple Computers. Dell responded “I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders”. In 2006, when Apple’s market cap rose above Dell’s, Steve Jobs sent an email to employees stating: “Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn’t perfect at predicting the future. Based on today’s stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve.”

See the difference in the two stocks since 1997.