Apple shares jump 5% as results beat expectations

Apple shares rose by almost 5% in after-hours trading after its third quarter results beat analysts' expectations, boosted by strong iPhone sales.

The technology giant sold 31.2m iPhones in the quarter ended in June, 20% more than the same period last year, beating analysts' forecasts of 27m sales. Company earnings were also better than expected at $35.3bn, despite net profit being down 22% from last year to $6.9bn. But with investors having expected an even larger profit fall, Apple shares soared nearly 5% in after-hours trading on the announcement, having earlier closed 1.7% down at $419. Earlier this year the firm lost its position as the world's most valuable publicly traded company, after its shares dipped as low as $402...