Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., after posting record first-quarter sales and profit on holiday demand for iPods and Macintosh computers, disappointed analysts with forecasts for this quarter.

Second-quarter sales, which typically slide after the holidays, will be as much as $4.9 billion, Apple said yesterday, shy of the $5.23 billion average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Apple forecast profit of as much as 56 cents a share, compared with estimates for 60 cents.

``You had people wondering whether they should jump for joy or be concerned,'' said James Grossman, a fund manager at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Appleton, Wisconsin, which oversees $65 billion including Apple shares. ``When all is said and done, it was an absolutely fantastic quarter and I'm going to stick with Apple.''

Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple fell as much as 4.5 percent, the most in six months, as some investors focused more on the forecast than the 50 percent jump in iPod music player shipments to 22.1 million units. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs sparked sales by introducing smaller, less-costly and higher-capacity models. Apple also reported ``robust demand'' for Macintosh PCs using faster chips from Intel Corp.

First-quarter profit surged 78 percent to $1 billion, or $1.14 a share, exceeding the 78 cents analysts projected. Sales topped $7 billion for the first time, rising 24 percent to $7.12 billion in the period ended Dec. 30, Apple said in a statement.

`They Delivered'

Long-time Apple investor Stephen Coleman, chief investment officer at St. Louis-based Daedalus Capital, said first-quarter results were enough to convince him to keep adding to the 50,000 shares his company already holds.

``They delivered -- it was a fabulous quarter,'' said Coleman, who started buying Apple shares in 2004. The forecast doesn't worry him because Apple ``always understates and over delivers.''

Shares of Apple fell as much as $4.25 to $90.70 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading and declined $3.72, or 3.9 percent, to $91.23 at 9:50 a.m. New York time. The shares had risen 12 percent in the past year before today.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. lowered estimates for Apple's March and June quarters while raising its share-price forecast on the stock to $110 from $102 previously. UBS AG analyst Benjamin Reitzes also raised his target for the shares to $124 from $118.

Reduced Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Bill Shope cut his rating on Apple's stock to ``neutral'' from ``overweight.'' He also reduced his revenue estimate for the March quarter to $5.16 billion from $5.44 billion and the earnings per share prediction, including options, to 62 cents from 61 cents, according to a note today.

``Our previous thesis on Mac share gains has proven to be too optimistic, and this was a core component of our bullish stance on the shares,'' Shope wrote. ``At current levels, we believe it is time to lighten up on positions.''

While iPod shipments were ``phenomenal,'' some investors may have been disappointed in Mac sales, said Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis. Mac shipments increased 28 percent to 1.61 million machines, fewer than the 1.75 million computers many Wall Street analysts had anticipated, he said.

``People wanted a bigger Mac number,'' said Munster, who raised his price target to $124 from $99 today. He rates the shares ``outperform.''

Investors including Coleman are counting on the results to divert attention from Apple's stock-option backdating scandal.

Options Probe

Apple said in December an internal investigation led by board member and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore cleared Jobs of any misconduct in the backdating of options. While Jobs, 51, knew about and recommended backdating, in which recipients receive more favorable pricing on stock-option grants, Apple said he didn't benefit personally.

Federal prosecutors in San Francisco are reviewing the company's stock-option grants.

``He's more important to the company than almost any other CEO is to any other company,'' said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates in Wayland, Massachusetts. ``He embodies the company. Any vulnerability on his part is definitely negative.''

Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976, didn't mention the stock-option probe last week when he unveiled the iPhone, which combines an iPod and a cell phone with Internet access.

Apple plans to sell 10 million iPhones next year to capture a 1 percent slice of the cell-phone market, Jobs said at the San Francisco Macworld Expo conference.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company will have ``to see'' whether customers hold off buying iPods as they wait for the iPhone. He said Apple is counting on its network of 170 retail stores to help sell the iPhone when it's released in June.

To contact the reporter on this story: Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 18, 2007 09:53 EST