NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Apple Computer Inc. Wednesday reported profits edged down to 11 cents a share for the latest quarter from 12 cents a share a year earlier, but the results topped Wall Street forecasts by a penny.

Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates) reported net profit of $40 million for its fiscal second quarter, compared with $43 million a year earlier. Sales rose 4 percent to $1.5 billion, in line with company guidance and analysts' consensus estimates.

Apple itself provided guidance for the quarter of 11 cents a share, but on average analysts surveyed by First Call had been looking for 10 cents a share. There were concerns about Apple's numbers after the company raised the prices on its new iMac computers by $100 each due to a hike in component costs.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said it shipped 813,000 Macintosh units in the second quarter, and 220,000 were the new iMac's, which include flat-screen monitors.

In a conference call, Apple CFO Fred Anderson said the company did not see any decline in sales of the iMac after the price increase and the company remains "very optimistic for the strong momentum we have."

But looking ahead, Anderson said Apple is looking for fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.6 billion with earnings per share flat to slightly higher than the second quarter.

According to First Call, analysts were expecting third-quarter earnings of 13 cents per share and revenue of $1.53 billion.

Anderson said the third quarter would be hurt by lower gross margins, gross income divided by net sales, for the new iMac, due to a number of reasons.

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The company is still expecting higher costs for components such as memory and flat-screen monitors, Anderson said, and it will not get the full benefit of the $100 price increase in the third quarter as it is still committed to shipping old inventory at the old price.

He added Apple is still using air freight to ship quickly to accommodate demand for the new machines, which is also cutting into gross margins.

In the fourth quarter, Anderson said he expects new iMac gross margins to be "substantially higher."

Shares of Apple fell 32 cents to $25.79 in after-hours trading.