Apple Down 5% After Q1 Earnings Beat, 51 Million iPhones Sold

is down more than five percent after the company reported its first quarter results. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant sold 51 million iPhones and 26 million iPads during the quarter, and reported a Q1 EPS of $14.50 versus the Street estimate of $14.08. Earnings per share were up five percent from the year-ago period. Sales arrived at $57.6 billion versus the Street estimate of $57.4 billion. Sales were up six percent year-over-year. "We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a

. "We love having the most satisfied, loyal and engaged customers, and are continuing to invest heavily in our future to make their experiences with our products and services even better." Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer added, "We generated $22.7 billion in cash flow from operations and returned an additional $7.7 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the December quarter, bringing cumulative payments under our capital return program to over $43 billion." Apple expects its second quarter sales to fall within the $42 billion to $44 billion range, which is a bit lower than the $46.05 billion that Wall Street was anticipating. Shares of Apple were initially up less than one percent before the company reported its first quarter results. The company has risen more than 21 percent over the last 12 months but is down more than one percent year-to-date. Earlier today, Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry reaffirmed his belief in Apple's continued success. "We expect Apple to handsomely beat the top-line and the bottom-line [and] show margin improvement," Chowdhry

. "I think the business is very strong for Apple." Tom DePetrillo, the Principal and Lead Partner at Providence Capital Group, was equally bullish on Apple. "I think that Apple is a one-of-a-kind company," DePetrillo told Benzinga. "I have all their products: the mini iPad, the big iPad, the iPhone. I'm not a Mac person, but that's not what Apple is about. Apple is about the iPhone now and the iPad. I think it's a phenomenal company. Obviously without Steve Jobs things are different. But Tim Cook seems to know what he's doing." Apple is expected to release a number of upgraded products this year, including a new version of its set-top box and a

. Disclosure: