Apple Inc. on Wednesday reported second-quarter profit rose 36 percent, beating analysts' expectations, while revenue climbed above $7 billion on stronger demand for its Macintosh personal computers and iPhones.

The Cupertino, California-based company said it earned $1.05 billion, or $1.16 a share, on $7.51 billion in revenue for the quarter, compared with last years first quarter when Apple earned $770 million, or 87 cents a share, on sales of $5.26 billion.

Sales climbed 43 percent to $7.51 billion. According to estimates from FactSet Research, analysts expected Apple would earn $1.11 a share on $6.97 billion in sales for the quarter.

Apple rose 61 cents to $163.50 in extended trading after closing at $162.89 at 4 p.m. in New York on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Apple said it sold 2.29 million Macs, boosted by demand for notebooks such as the ultra-thin MacBook Air, which was unveiled by Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs earlier in January.

The Mac brought in nearly a third of its sales amount. The company posted a 33 percent increase in U.S. shipments last quarter, which is the largest gain among the top PC makers, according to Gartner Research.

Meanwhile, Apple said it sold 10.6 million iPods and 1.7 million iPhones in the quarter ended March 31. Jobs slashed the price of the iPod Shuffle this year, and added a new model of the iPhone which includes more memory.

Looking ahead to its fiscal third-quarter, Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company expects to earn $1 a share on revenue of $7.2 billion. Analysts had previously forecast Apple to earn $1.09 a share on $7.23 billion in sales.

Apple is also reported to be in the process of acquiring P.A. Semi Inc., a microprocessor design company known for its high-end, low-power chips for $278 million. Apple is speculated to make an announcement in its quarterly conference call later today.

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