Mac Mojo Bolsters Apple

Investors were cheering another strong quarterly performance by Apple Computer (AAPL) on Thursday, but it was the company's astonishing growth in Mac sales that grabbed the Street's attention.

Apple's stock jumped 5.8% in recent trading, adding $4.33 to $78.86.

"On the strength of the Mac's forthcoming ability to run Windows applications, we thought 2007 would be a breakout year for Mac sales. We were wrong," wrote Needham's Charlie Wolf in a Thursday note. "The breakout appears to be already occurring." Needham makes a market in Apple.

"Never in the history of the PC has a company been better positioned to both gain share and improve profitability," wrote a bullish Jonathan Hoopes for ThinkEquity Partners, which makes a market in the company. "Investors should ... understand that Apple's software holds the key to both share gain and margin expansion."

Helped along by the back-to-school season, Apple's Macintosh sales grew 30% to 1.6 million units, while sales of its market-leading iPod digital music player ballooned 35% to 8.7 million units during the quarter.

Apple said late Wednesday that it earned $546 million, or 62 cents a share, vs. $430 million, or 50 cents a share at the same time last year. Revenue totaled $4.84 billion, compared to $3.68 billion.

Thomson First Call analysts pegged the company for 51 cents a share on sales of $4.66 billion.