Spurred by another quarter of strong Mac and iPod sales, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported on Wednesday earnings were up for its first fiscal quarter, far surpassing Wall Street expectations.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported a profit of $1 billion, up 78 percent to $1 billion, or $1.14 per share for the company's first fiscal quarter, ending on December 30. Revenue rose 24.5 percent to $7.1 billion. The same period last year recorded a profit of$565 million or 65 cents.

Analysts had expected 78 centers per share, according to a Thomson First Call poll, with revenue of $6.42 billion.

The Mac maker said it sales of its iPod music and video players rose jumped 50 percent to 21 million devices.

Shares of Apple closed down $2.15, or 2.21 percent, to $94.95 on the Nasdaq exchange.

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