Apple Inc's profit and revenue blasted past analysts' expectations, fueled by record sales of the iPhone and Mac. Shares shot up 7.5 percent to more than $204 in extended trade.

Texas Instruments Inc's results also beat expectations -- though less dramatically -- and the chip maker said its fourth quarter earnings should be stronger than current forecasts.

COMMENTARY ON APPLE:

SUSHIL WAGLE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, J&W SELIGMAN

I like the fact that even their guidance was very good. Normally their guidance is a little tepid. Their revenue guidance is about $1.4 billion at midpoint and the Street is right around there, which is usually not the case.

Overall, very, very solid. I think the stock is going to inch its way up to $250... slowly.

SHANNON CROSS, ANALYST, CROSS RESEARCH

These are phenomenal results -- and use that word. You know, it proves that even in a challenging economy people are willing to pay for what they perceive to be high quality product and a good value product.

It's fantastic earnings for this economy. Actually, it's great number for any economy. It just shows the strength of Apple. It reaffirms that Apple is the leading consumer electronics company.

The number of Macs sold shows that Windows 7 has not been a threat to the Apple franchise.

PHIL ORLANDO, CHIEF EQUITY MARKET STRATEGIST, FEDERATED INVESTORS

The fact that they beat as aggressively as they have tells me that they are selling music, telephones and personal computers in a market where everyone has thought up until now that the consumer is dead.

So clearly the rumors of the demise of the American consumer have been greatly exaggerated. Either that or Apple is just doing (such) a phenomenal job that consumers can't help themselves.

MIKE MCGUIRE, ANALYST, GARTNER RESEARCH

Given that everyone said the pre-recorded music area was flat, we are seeing a little bit of an increase in pre-recorded music sales.

It would appear that this is an increasingly mobile world for Apple.

This shows 185 percent revenue growth for the iPhone. In light of this current economic situation that would seem to be an astounding number.

BRIAN MARSHALL, ANALYST, BROADPOINT AMTECH

Clearly Apple has the greatest product cycle on the planet today with the iPhone.

With less than 5 percent market share of the wireless space and the PC space, I think they are going to have a very bright future.

I think this is the best company on the planet from a technology perspective, and I don't see their momentum slowing down any time soon -- by the looks of the numbers they're accelerating.

From a fundamental perspective, I think these guys are going to continue to execute.

JANE SNOREK, ANALYST, FIRST AMERICAN FUNDS

These are huge numbers tonight. Apple is probably the best growth story in tech, maybe one of the best growth stocks in the market. I bet this stock can go to $250 in six to nine months.

Usually Christmas and back-to-school are correlated and Apple usually has a gigantic Christmas quarter. This makes me think Apple will have a great Christmas.

They had a 17 percent increase in Macs, and what is the PC market as a whole? They might be lucky if it's flat by the end of the year.

People are worried about the consumer, and Apple PCs and Apple phones are more expensive. Clearly, right now the consumer doesn't care. For some reason consumers will spend more money to get Apple.

The rumor is that the new (Apple) tablet will be coming out in the first quarter, $700 to $800. That will be accretive and won't cannibalize.

DANIEL ERNST, ANALYST, HUDSON SQUARE RESEARCH

It's outstanding -- it's even above the overly bullish estimate inflation that always goes on on the Street.

While we knew they were gaining share in those categories -- PCs and phones -- it's still surprising to see this degree of outperformance. But that's just part of the Apple story: They're gaining share with premium-priced products.

If you look at it on a global basis, they have 3.8 percent market share in PCs, and you can't even measure the market share they have in phones as there are 1.1 billion phones sold every year.

They could, in our estimate, double PC market share over the next 5 or so years, and if iPhone continues to gradually grab some share, earnings could double.

COMMENTARY ON TEXAS INSTRUMENTS

DOUG FREEDMAN, ANALYST, BROADPOINT AMTECH

These are strong results that were fairly well-expected given how we've had strong recovery across the semi-conductor industry and the company's mid-quarter update.

The thing people are going to be focused on is the EPS guidance going forward being at least 10 percent above the Street at the mid-point. So we really do have a pretty good increase in Street expectations and the numbers consensus should move up nicely.

ED SNYDER, ANALYST, CHARTER EQUITY RESEARCH

They looked very good, they did better all the way round. Analog was good, wireless was strong, no extra inventory.

They were down last slightly from last year. It's clear that the recovery for the semi-conductor guys is both real and not inventory-driven. That gives a lot of people hope that we're not seeing a false start, this is actually real demand.

The outlook's stronger than expected which is the hallmark of a recovery.

Since Nokia's report last week the whole space has been trading off on fears that things aren't going to go as well as expected.

(Reporting Ian Sherr and David Lawsky in San Francisco, Yinka Adegoke, Ellis Mnyandu, and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Compiled by Paul Thomasch)

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