It gets to the point where you wonder of maybe Apple will make enough money that they can help us bail out the U.S. government. Apple announced earnings last night, and it was a barn-burner of a quarter, with the company thrashing earnings per share (EPS) estimates by almost $1.00. Shares look like they will open about 6% higher, blowing through the $250 mark.

The company announced earnings per share EPS of $3.33, beating consensus estimates of $2.45. Revenue was $13.5 billion vs. $12.04 billion consensus estimates, and a 49% increase over the prior March quarter’s results.

Most notably, the company is showing strong growth in its core Mac computer growth, which may demonstrate that as it launches newer products such as the iPhone and the iPad, that's adding strength to the overall franchise. Mac sales were up 33% from the prior year.

“This very strong performance was due primarily to the more than doubling of iPhone sales and the strong momentum of our Mac products,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer on the conference call.

Some other quick facts from the call:

• Oppenheimer pointed out that they company printed a much smaller sequential revenue decline from the December to March quarters than they normally experience after the falloff from the holiday season, which demonstrates how strong the quarter was.
• Operating margin was $4 billion representing 29.5% of revenue. Net income of $3.1 billion was up 90% over the year-ago quarter.
• Apple sold 2.94 million Macs, a record for the March quarter. This represents 33% year-over-year growth.
• Sold 10.9 million iPods, about equal to the 11 million sold in the year-ago quarter. “iPod Touch continued to be very strong with units growing 63% year-over-year.”
• Sales of $1.1 billion for the iTunes store. In February the store crossed the 10 billion mark for songs purchased and downloaded.
• 8.75 million iPhones sold during the quarter, an all-time high exceeding the previous record set in the December quarter.
• The company now holds cash plus short-term and long-term marketable securities totaling $41.7 billion at the end of the March quarter compared to $39.8 billion at the end of the December quarter, an increase of $1.9 billion. Cash flow from operations was over $2.3 billion.
• Forecast for revenue on the June quarter: between $13-13.4 billion compared to $9.7 billion in the June quarter last year. Company said it expects the gross margin to come down to 36% from 41.7% in the March quarter reflecting increased stock-based compensation expense.