There are companies that make a lot of money.  Then there’s Apple, which reported after the stock market closed today that it earned $7.79 per share in the quarter just ended, beating analysts’ expectations of around $5.81. From a financial perspective, that’s a grand slam.

ABC News’ Dan Arnall reports the company generated a second quarter net profit of $7.31 billion on revenue of $28.57 billion, by selling 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads and 3.95 million Mac computers.

“We’re thrilled to deliver our best quarter ever, with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “Right now, we’re very focused and excited about bringing iOS 5 and iCloud to our users this fall.”

Shares of the company closed at $376.85, up about a percentage point on the day. After hours it jumped again; at last look it was hovering close to $400 per share.