Apple Shares Lose Their Normal Shine

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple(AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks) blew past Wall Street's third-quarter expectations but the company's standard conservative guidance for the current quarter appeared to disappoint investors.

Apple also did little to quell the buzz around the health of CEO Steve Jobs and the issue of the company's succession planning, which contributed to taking a toll on the company's stock.

Shares of Apple fell $17.29, or 10.5%, to $148.75 in recent after-hours trading.

Apple said Monday that it earned $1.07 billion, or $1.19 a share, in the third quarter, compared with profit of $818 million, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $7.46 billion from $5.41 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of $1.08 a share on revenue of $7.36 billion.

Gross margin fell to 34.8% in the third quarter from 36.9% a year ago. International sales accounted for 42% of the quarter's revenue.

For the fourth quarter, Apple offered its traditional conservative guidance and then some, saying it expects revenue of $7.8 billion and earnings of $1 a share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.32 billion and earnings of $1.24 a share.

Gross margin for the fourth quarter is expected to be 31.5%, down from the previous quarter because of back-to-school promotions and the introduction of a new product among other things, said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer didn't offer any additional details about the upcoming product.

Apple also did little to squelch speculation around CEO Steve Jobs' health. The New York Post reported on Monday that some hedge fund managers and investors are concerned about Apple's future after Jobs.

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