Apple Inc. shares climbed to a record Wednesday, buoyed by soaring sales of the iPhone and Macintosh computer and on speculation that Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs will unveil new gadgets next year. Cupertino-based Apple rose $8.98, or 4.5 percent, to $207.74, exceeding the intraday record of $202.96 set in 2007. The shares have more than doubled this year, compared with a 21 percent gain in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index. Apple reached its previous record after the iPhone emerged as a hit, creating a third major business for the company. Jobs cut iPod prices, added models, ran back-to-school promotions and expanded distribution for the iPhone 3GS last quarter to fuel sales, which topped $9 billion. Investors expect new products next year, including a tablet device.

Tech earnings

Fremont-based Lam Research Corp. rebounded into the profit column and banished a stretch of three straight quarters of red ink, earning $16.8 million on revenues of $217.8 million in its first quarter of fiscal 2010. Compared with the year ago quarter, profits rose 89 percent, but revenues fell 28 percent. In the nine months that preceded the newly reported quarter, Lam Research had lost a cumulative $311 million.

Fremont-based Mattson Technology Corp. reported a much smaller loss for its third quarter of fiscal 2009, and although sales slumped, the semiconductor equipment maker said business conditions

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for its industry have definitely improved. Mattson lost $8.6 million, or 17 cents a share, on revenues of $11.2 million. In the year-ago quarter, Mattson lost $20.7 million, or 42 cents a share. Revenues fell 63 percent.

Biotech

Actelion Pharmaceuticals has more than doubled its space with a purchase of a big office building in South San Francisco. Actelion bought a 138,000-square-foot office building at 5000 Shoreline Court in a deal arranged by the Jones Lang LaSalle realty brokerage. Based in Switzerland, Actelion's U.S. subsidiary is expanding from an existing 55,000 square feet in the same building.

Foreclosure

The Pacific Building in downtown Oakland has been seized by its lender in a foreclosure. The lender, Affinity Bank, foreclosed on a $4.4 million mortgage for the 67,000-square-foot office building. The baroque, historic, five-story building is located at 610 16th St. near Jefferson Street.

Compiled from staff and wire reports.

Got Bay Area business news? Reach Drew Voros at 925-943-8099 or dvoros@bayareanewsgroup.com.