Apple yesterday reported higher third-quarter sales and operating earnings, but said its net income declined because of higher investment gains a year earlier. The company said it earned $200 million or 55 cents per share in the third quarter, compared with $203 million or 60 cents per share in the same period last year. Apple said operating income excluding investment gains in the year-ago period had been 35 cents per share.Earnings in the latest period include a gain of $37 million or 10 cents per share, from the company's sale of shares of ARM Holdings Inc. Excluding that gain, operating income was 45 cents per share, narrowly surpassing the consensus forecast among analysts, of 44 cents per share. The company said sales rose 17 percent to $1.83 billion. Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson sales of its iMac computer were relatively flat.