Apple could be in for a big profit result tonight due to rising notebook sales and a new iPhone 3Gs.

Apple’s third-quarter earnings report, due tonight will likely surpass Wall Street analysts’ expectations claims several Apple watchers.

In the first two quarters of this year Apple sold 8.1 million iPhones with some analysts now tipping third-quarter sales of more than 5 million units. The analysts are also tipping sales of US$8.2 billion and earnings and $1.08 in profits.

Since April Apple shares have risen 26%. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a July 20 research note that new data from market researcher NPD Group show that US Mac sales in June were up 16% compared with a year ago, and that third-quarter Mac sales rose 5%. That implies sales of about 2.6 million Macs; anything more than 2.61 million units sold would set a quarterly record for Apple.