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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported their fiscal first quarter earnings last night, and shares of the stock have taken a beating in extended hours trading. With about two hours to go before today’s opening bell the stock is down a little under 10 percent, trading down right around $140.

For its first quarter, the numbers looked great. The company easily beat analyst estimates, posting earnings per share of $1.76 for the quarter, well above the $1.61 that analysts had been expecting to see, but it was the company’s second quarter forecast that is leading to today’s sell off.

Looking ahead to its second quarter, the company is now predicting to earn 94 cents per share. This came well under Wall Streets expectations of $1.09. Another disturbing aspect to the call was the December iPod sales figures which showed close to zero sales growth year over year. Overall, Apple saw a five percent rise iniPod sales, but much of this growth was seen oversees, and sales in America were relatively flat.

With the stock currently sitting down around $140 a share, the stock is down a little over 30 percent from its recent 52 week high of $202.96.

While the second quarter forecast is definitely low, the company does have a history of underestimating their numbers, and we may be seeing some of this in last nights release. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some buyers taking that into consideration and swooping in today to grab some cheap shares of the stock.

For full coverage of last night’s conference call visit the liveblog over on www.tuaw.com.

Disclaimer: I currently am long in Apple

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