Apple's stock gains as company execs cite iPhone, Mac demand in boosting guidance

Apple shares jumped more than 3% on Friday after the iPhone maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued revenue guidance for the current period that sailed past analysts' estimates. CEO Tim Cook, who is preparing to step down in September after 15 years at the helm, touted the company's performance in the face of significant supply constraints due largely to the global memory crunch. The company said revenue in the fiscal third quarter, which ends in June, will increase between 14% and 17% from a year earlier, while analysts were projecting growth of 9.5%. Apple is seeing continued demand from the iPhone 17 family, which Cook called the "most popular lineup in our history," as well as for a number of Mac models. In March, Apple released a lower-cost computer called the MacBook Neo, and Cook said late Wednesday that customer response "has just been off the charts, with higher-than-expected demand." Analysts sought clarity from Cook, who said the company would "look at a range of options" to address soaring memory costs, a trend the CEO only sees intensifying. Investors didn't get a lot of answers, but were mostly unconcerned. "That does create some risk, but after last night's results, we feel much better about Apple's ability to manage margins" than previously expected, wrote analysts at Morgan Stanley, in a note to clients on Friday. "It's the single-greatest source of our estimates moving higher post-earnings." The analysts, who recommend buying t