Apple Computer Inc managed to surprise the market on Friday with better-than-expected profits for the fiscal third quarter. It cited strong sales of its new Power Macintosh machine for a 15% increase in revenues, as well as the effect of lower costs associated with last year’s restructuring. Over the last quarter we have improved our financial model, controlled our costs, and managed our working capital extremely well, said Michael Spindler, president and chief executive. Apple says it shipped more than 200,000 Power Macintoshes and Power Macintosh upgrades during the quarter and that there are now over 200 native applications, adding We are pleased to see industry support building around the Power Macintosh. More native applications are arriving from software developers, and response has been very good. Apple’s gross margins for the third quarter were 26.7% of net sales, up from 24.0% in the second quarter, and the shares jumped $3 to $31 in pre-opening trading on Friday.
