Company News : Apple rises on cost analysis of iPhone

Apple Inc.’s shares jumped in high-volume trading Tuesday after researchers said the company will reap a gross profit margin in excess of 55 percent on its 8 gigabyte iPhones.

Apple shares added $5.91, or 4.9 percent, to $127.17 in an abbreviated trading session that ended at 1 p.m. due to the upcoming July Fourth holiday. During the past year, the stock has traded between $50.16 and $127.61, running up in recent months in anticipation of the hybrid cell phone, media player and wireless Internet gadget’s June 29 release.

On Tuesday, the research company iSuppli reported that a tear-down analysis of the iPhone showed its bill of materials and manufacturing costs totaled $265.83. That means Apple would generate a margin of more than 55 percent for every 8 gigabyte iPhone it sold for $599.

Eric Pratt, iSuppli’s senior director of tear-down, said iSuppli is still fine-tuning its report and it now thinks the product’s margin is more than 50 percent, when accounting for factors like royalties and software costs. He wasn’t surprised by the margin, he said, because the company’s earlier research-based modeling called for a basic iPhone cost of $264.85.

Apple does not disclose its margins for specific products but iSuppli’s estimate for the iPhone — which doesn’t include marketing or research and development costs — falls in the ballpark of its iPod cousins that were similarly analyzed by the market research firm.

“More than 20,000 former Enron Corp. employees who finally received the first payment from a portion of millions in retirement funds lost during the company’s collapse have been told they were either overpaid or underpaid because of a computer glitch.

Now some ex-workers might have to pay back money if they got too much.

Last year, former Enron workers received about $89 million, the first payment that is part of a lawsuit settlement over money they lost through Enron’s employee stock ownership and 401(k) plans.

“Futures exchange IntercontinentalExchange Inc. said Tuesday it is willing to improve its $11.7 billion offer to acquire the Chicago Board of Trade, hoping to torpedo next week’s vote on a rival proposal by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The Atlanta-based energy exchange told shareholders of Board of Trade parent CBOT Holdings Inc. that its current offer is binding through July 12. That would give CBOT four additional days to accept it if stockholders reject the proposed deal with Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. in Monday’s vote.