Apple Posts Record Q1: $26.7 Billion Revenue, $6 Billion Earnings [Update]

Apple has posted its earnings report for fiscal Q1 2011 (the December quarter of calendar 2010), and once again the company has posted a blowout record. Apple reported revenue for the quarter of $26.74 billion (up 71% year-over-year) and earnings of $6 billion (up 78% year-over-year), or $6.43 per share (up 75% year-over-year) . The company added $9.8 billion to its already obscenely large cash hoard during the quarter, as well.

In addition to smashing its year-ago performance, the company posted record sales of Macs, iPhones, and iPads. During the quarter, Apple sold 4.13 million Macs, up 23% over the prior year and well above the PC industry as a whole. iPhone sales clocked in at 16.24 million units, up 86% year-over-year. iPad sales were way at the high end of analyst estimates, with 7.33 million units sold.

Only iPods performed more poorly year-over-year, but even there Apple outperformed expectations. The Christmas quarter saw 19.45 million iPods sold, 7% less than in the December quarter of 2009.

Though Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced a medical leave-of-absence on Monday, the iconic CEO still had a statement included in today’s earning announcement.

“We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales,” Mr. Jobs said. “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.”

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer offered strong guidance for the January quarter as well, saying, “We couldn’t be happier with the performance of our business, generating $9.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the December quarter. Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $22 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $4.90.”

Shares in AAPL lost ground Tuesdays, closing at $340.65, down $7.83 per share (-2.25%), on volume 5.5x the average with 63.44 million shares trading hands, as investors traded on the news of Mr. Jobs’s leave. They have already regained all that territory in after-market action, and are trading what would be a new record high of $352.02 were this during the regular session.

Apple will be hosting a conference call with analysts starting at 2:00 PM EST (5:00 PM PST), and The Mac Observer will be offering live coverage of the event. We expect many questions about the company’s future vis á vis Steve Jobs, as analysts look for reassurance that Apple is in good hands.

[Update: This article was updated with many additional details - Editor.]

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.