Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earnings Report Exceeds Expectations

Unsurprisingly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a spectacular first quarter, led by extraordinary sales of the iPhone and iPad.

This should give another major boost to the share price of the company, although it could be tempered some by the recent announcement CEO Steve Jobs was stepping down for medical reasons concerning the day-to-day operations of the company.

Revenue in the first quarter exploded to $26.74 billion, easily beating the $24.38 billion the Street was looking for. Earnings came in at a robust $6.43 a share, also significantly beating analysts' estimates of $5.38.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated, “We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.”

Gross margins for Apple expanded nicely in the quarter too, rising from estimates of 37.3 percent to an actual 38.5 percent.

Guidance from Apple was also strong, with second-quarter earnings expected to reach $4.90 a share on $22 billion in revenue. That's up from Street expectations of earnings of $4.47 a share on revenue of $20.87 billion.

Apple closed Tuesday at $340.65, losing $7.83, or 2.25 percent. At a little after 5 PM EST, the stock came roaring back, trading after hours at $354.31, gaining $13.78, or 4.05 percent, as of 4:51 PM EST. Apple shares are trading hands extremely fast.