After Hours Action: Apple

Shares of Apple [AAPL 251.89 6.31 (+2.57%) ] popped in extended trade Tuesday as investors cheered the company’s latest results.

Looking at the numbers the company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $3.51 a share excluding one-time items, up from $1.35 a share a year ago.

Revenue leaped to $15.7 billion, up from $8.337 billion last year.

Analysts who follow Apple saw the company reporting a profit of $3.11 a share on sales of $14.746 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

The computer and personal electronics company also gave a forecast for the current quarter that topped expectations, saying it expects to report a profit of about $3.44 a share on sales of about $18 billion.

What’s the takeaway?

Everyone says the consumer is dead, but when I look at these numbers says to me the consumer isn’t dead, says Pete Najarian. Everything is working right at Apple.

I'm not sure I'd look at Apple results and extrapolate them to make broad statements about the consumer, counters Brian Kelly. Look at Gap [GPS 18.48 0.19 (+1.04%) ] , they're discounting, discounting, discounting.

We're not saying the consumer is back, argues Joe Terranova. We're saying consumer trends are not as bad as portrayed.

Once again Apple has beaten but beaten by a lot, says Karen Finerman. The results are just extremely impressive.

I still see Apple as a growth play even at these levels, says Steve Grasso.

Apple can still continue to grow organically. I think it restarts the bullish moment in Best Buy [BBY 34.55 0.18 (+0.52%) ] . And I’d also look at Qualcomm [QCOM 36.75 -0.02 (-0.05%) ] , he adds. Their chips going into Apple’s gadgets

Billionaire investors calls Apple a value stock. Fast Money EP John Melloy writes about Einhorn’s call at length. Click here to read

I’m also watching the action in Altera [ALTR 28.31 0.02 (+0.07%) ] , says Pete Najarian. They feed into Apple and they’re doing well. In the Apple universe, I find there’s strength in the related names as well.

Apple is also a second half of the year story, adds Terranova. I think we see money managers step in and buy and that takes it above $300.

According to Bariyni, although Apple has beat almost every time since 2003 it’s only traded higher on the day after earnings 67% of the time, notes host Melissa Lee.

Second derivative trades worth watching include Cirrus Logic [CRUS 18.15 0.66 (+3.77%) ] as well as TriQuint [TQNT 6.74 --- UNCH (0) ] ; they’re both makers of chips that go into Apple products, adds host Melissa Lee.