LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Shares in European companies thatsupply parts to Apple Inc leapt on Wednesday after thetech giant reported the largest profit in corporate history,driven by record sales of iPhones and strong demand in China.
Shares in British chip designer ARM and ImaginationTechnologies, which supplies graphics processing to theU.S. group, rose between 3 and 4 percent at the open asinvestors cheered the news overnight.
With ARM having the highest price to earnings valuationamongst its peers, traders said investors should look to buyinto the stock on one of the days when it slips.
"You have to be a buyer of ARM on the dip. It not onlyprovides Apple with chips but also Samsung, and they get all theroyalties," said Beaufort Securities sales trader BasilPetrides.
German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor, whichcounts Apple as one of its customers, rose 1.5 percent by 0819GMT.
Dialog makes chips that manage power consumption of consumerelectronics such as smartphones and tablet computers. Apple andSamsung Electronics are among its main customers andits shares are up almost a fifth this year.
Apple smashed its quarterly forecasts, selling 74.5 millioniPhones in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 27, compared witha forecast of fewer than 70 million. Revenue rose to $74.6billion from $57.6 billion a year earlier.
Profit of $18 billion was the biggest ever reported by apublic company, worldwide, according to S&P analyst HowardSilverblatt. (Reporting by Kate Holton and Harro Ten Wolde in Frankfurt)
