Apple

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[AAPL  Loading...      ()   ] blew past Wall Street expectations, reporting $1.33 a share against the $1.09 anticipated, on better-than-expected sales of $8.12 billion. The Street anticipated about $7.95 billion in sales.

Looking at the company's individual business units, Mac sales came in at 2.22 million units shipped, a little lighter than 2.4 million anticipated, and the first year-over-year decline in the division in something like 6 years. But robust iPhone sales eclipsed that news, coming in at 3.8 million units versus the 3.4 million anticipated. Let Piper's Gene Munster take a victory lap on this one, upping his expectations for the device to 3.7 million units after AT&T reported strong iPhone sales during its first quarter earlier in the day. In fact, AT&T

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[T  Loading...      ()   ] says it sold 1.6 million units during the quarter, more than any other handsets it offers. And iPods keep chugging along, selling 11 million units versus the 10.8 million anticipated.

Looking ahead to the company's third fiscal quarter, the company is offering an EPS range of 95 cents to $1. The Street was looking for $1.11, but as I wrote in my earlier post, per Piper Jaffray, Apple is usually 11 percent below what the Street expects as far as EPS guidance is concerned, which would have put the number at $1 a share. Apple is just slightly below that expectation. As far as revenue is concerned, the company is offering a range of $7.7 billion to $7.9 billion, and again, per Piper, Apple has historically guided revenue by 4 percent lower than Wall Street expectations which would have put the number at $8 billion, versus the $8.3 billion consensus. So again, while Apple is below those expectations, it is only slightly below.

In its earnings release, CFO Peter Oppenheimer says this quarter was the company's best non-holiday quarter in Apple's history, no small feat when you're talking about an economic climate that's taken such a brutal toll on so many tech industry heavyweights. Apple continues to figure out new ways to squeeze every penny out of every device, reporting a 36.3 percent gross margin on the quarter versus the 33.3 percent Wall Street expected.

For comparison purposes, independent analysts Andy Zaky and Turley Muller, not bad guys. Zaky expected $8.318 billion, but only $1.19 a share in EPS. Muller was at $8.02 billion and $1.32 a share. Taking a quick glance at analyst estimates, they seem to be a lot closer to the actuals than anyone else I've seen on Wall Street, and it's another reason why I detailed some of their comments in an earlier post. Not bad at all.

Meantime, Apple ends the quarter with $29 billion in cash in the bank, robust profit generation, improving margins. Softness in Mac sales might be a concern in any other economic climate than the one we're dealing with. I look at the number is neutral to positive. These devices aren't cheap. And consumers are watching every penny. And Apple still manages to sell more than 2 million of them. Again.

Apple shorts take note: The more investors focus on the fundamentals of this company, especially as they relate to the so-called competition the company faces in the marketplace, the higher these shares are headed. Even though they're up 42 percent already on the year, no other company comes close to the profit and sales generation Apple has enjoyed. This is impressive, plain and simple.

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