Apple Astonishes

Apple (AAPL - commentary - Cramer's Take) is amazing. I read the key pieces of research this morning, and nobody pounded the table. In fact, I found the chatter mostly neutral to negative.

But the stock knows better.

Here is a company that delivered a huge beat on the iPhone, which is beginning to feel, at least to me, the way iTunes did a few years ago when there were still credible, well-funded music alternatives. Remember Microsoft's (MSFT - commentary - Cramer's Take) ZUNE?

In fact, at a time when people are supposed to be staying away from discretionary spending, the iPod's increase was stunning.

Yes, the actual PC business was weaker than I would like, but then again, that business is not why you own this one.

I also felt it was interesting that nobody's focusing on the Steve Jobs factor. They are focusing on the well-disciplined management of the gross margins here, which were truly extraordinary.

At this juncture, Apple remains a fantastic stock to own, and I can totally understand why it should be bought even up here.

There are enough "scare" days in this stock to think you can wait for some sort of rumor that's negative about it. But let's face it, the future's bright here: iPhone going to China, iPod still ramping, and if the economy gets better, so will PCs.

Amazing company.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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Know What You Own: Other personal computer makers include Dell (DELL - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - commentary - Cramer's Take). Other phonemakers include Nokia (NOK - commentary - Cramer's Take), Ericsson (ERIC - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU - commentary - Cramer's Take).

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