By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 04:35 PM EST

Apple said Wednesday that third quarter profits surged 73 percent to $818 million, or $0.92 per diluted share, on sales of $5.41 billion.

The results compare to revenue of $4.37 billion and net quarterly profit of $472 million, or $.54 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent, up from 30.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's revenue.

"We are very pleased to report strong financial results including cash flow from operations exceeding $1.2 billion for the quarter," said Apple chief executive Peter Oppenheimer. "Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007, we expect revenue of about $5.7 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.65."

Apple shipped 1,764,000 Macintosh computers, representing 33 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous company record for quarterly Mac shipments by over 150,000. The Company also sold 9,815,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 21 percent growth over the year-ago quarter.

"We're thrilled to report the highest June quarter revenue and profit in Apple's history, along with the highest quarterly Mac sales ever," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "iPhone is off to a great start -- we hope to sell our one- millionth iPhone by the end of its first full quarter of sales -- and our new product pipeline is very strong."

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q3 2007 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime, the company's standards-based technology for live and on-demand audio and video streaming. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 25, 2007.

AppleInsider will provide its usual coverage.