After the bell, Apple (AAPL) reported earnings of $1.01 a share which is a huge increase over the 62 cents a share they made last year. The Street was looking 85 cents a share. This was just an outstanding quarter.

Apple Inc. fourth-quarter profit jumped 67 percent, topping analysts' estimates, after it sold more Macintosh computers, iPhone handsets and new iPods.

Apple's forecast for sales and profit this quarter also beat predictions, sending the shares up 5.6 percent in extended trading. Annual sales increased to $24 billion, exceeding $20 billion for the first time in the company's 31-year history.

The company sold a record 2.16 million Macs during the back- to-school shopping season and shipped 10.2 million iPod media players after Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs released updated models. Apple sold 1.12 million iPhones, topping Jobs's July forecast of 730,000 units, helped by a $200 price cut last month.

"They knocked the cover off the ball," Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies in Wayland, Massachusetts, said in an interview. "More than 2 million Macs, sold lots and lots of iPods, and the phones have done better than expected."

In my Blue Chip Growth service, shares of Apple are up more than 535% since I first recommended them less than three years ago. I currently rate AAPL a strong buy up to $183.